Hometown Hero: Ginger Passarelli

10 years ago Ginger, also known as Mama Passarelli from Black Diamond, founded a non-profit organization which is now fueled by the tireless efforts of over 40 compassionate and kitchen savvy volunteer women called The Soup Ladies. The Soup Ladies provide fresh nutritious, home-cooked meals to first responders such as police and fire departments, search-and-rescue teams and military personnel in times of emergency and national disasters.

Countless times, Ginger and The Soup Ladies have dropped what they were doing to gather in a kitchen and prepare meals for those responding to emergencies both near and far: Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Katrina, and countless emergencies here in Washington state. If you heard about it on the news, there’s a good chance Ginger and her team were there, behind-the-scenes, making sure our first responders were shown care and encouragement through a bowl of soup, a sandwich and some hot coffee.

The motto of The Soup Ladies is: “Warming the world one bowl at a time.” And for that, KIRO Radio and your community credit union, WSECU are proud to honor Ginger Passarelli as a Hometown Hero and award her with $2,000, as a way to say thank you for all you do.

If you would like to learn more about Mama Passarelli and The Soup Ladies, visit SoupLadies.org.