L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano T hree years ago, the tiny community of Oso, Wash., nestled along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, was obliterated when a devastat- ing landslide buried the area, killing 43 people. The disaster was horrific not just for the victims' families and the community itself, but also for the volunteers and first respon- ders who spent weeks at the site, digging at first frantically, and later methodically, through the mud, the muck and the debris. Ginger "Mama" Passarelli and her Soup Ladies were on hand, providing hot delicious meals to hundreds of workers at the site. "We had eight to ten people in our mobile kitchen who cooked two meals a day for 16 days," she said. "During that time, we pre- pared nearly 6,600 home-cooked meals." Taking care of the first respon- ders and volunteers at a disaster site is what the Soup Ladies do, or as their website puts it, warm- ing the world one bowl at a time. Last year, the group cooked 11,000 meals at disaster sites. The idea was inspired by Passarelli's trips to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina when she realized no one was feeding the first responders. "Here they were, working long days, often in a restricted area," she said. "They survived on whatever they could stuff in their pockets—granola bars, bottled water, MREs. That felt so wrong to me." While at Katrina, she met a man from Kentucky who had dri- ven to the area with his barbeque truck in tow. "I saw that and I thought: That's awesome. I decided I could make soup to feed the volunteers." In all, she made six trips to Mississippi. Back home in Washington state, she met with local firefighters who confirmed what she had experienced was the norm. "They told me: Yup, it's always like that," she recalled. "No one is dedicated to serving the first responders." Passarelli was determined to change the system. She approached several King County, Wash., deputies who were recep- tive to her idea and helped her navigate the training and certifi- cation process. "You can't just show up at a disaster site," Passarelli explained. "There are protocols that must be followed. All my Soup Ladies have incident com- mand training. They've taken FEMA training and passed a background check. We under- stand confidentiality and we know not to talk to the media or mess up the crime scene." Passarelli comes by her cook- ing chops naturally, with a grand- mother from Sicily and a grand- father from Tuscany. The family initially settled in New Jersey; later her father relocated to Oregon. For many years, she owned Mama Passarelli's Dinner House in Black Diamond, Wash. She is also a chaplain, where she works with the Black Diamond Police, Mountain View Fire, Washington State Patrol and oth- ers. Although the Soup Ladies operate primarily in the Northwest, they travel to other locations, as well. They were at Rockaway Beach in Queens, N.Y., cooking for volunteers dur- ing superstorm Sandy, and in Oklahoma providing meals to tornado survivors. Natural disasters are just one part of their mission. The group also supports search-and-rescue efforts and crime scenes where law enforcement officers are hard at work. In 2009, Passarelli and her group were at the coffee shop outside Tacoma, following the shooting deaths of four police officers. "That was just heart- wrenching," she said. Her group provided meals to law enforce- ment officers in Roseburg, Ore., after a shooting at Umpqua Community College, and again in Burlington, Wash., after five RITA CIPALLA Soup Ladies: A recipe to warm the heart and soul people were killed at the local mall. The Soup Ladies own two trucks and a mobile kitchen trail- er. Volunteers pay their own way to the site, whether it's gas for the car or airfare to another state. There is no charge for their ser- vices. As a nonprofit organization, the group bought the kitchen trailer with a grant secured by King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn, with additional funds from the Maple Valley Rotary. With its 12 burners and two full-size ovens, the trailer allows the Soup Ladies to pre- pare 500 to 600 meals a day. "We take the truck to the scene, open the back and start feeding people," said Passarelli. "Our meals are all home-cooked and made with love. Our chicken pot pie and beef stroganoff are particularly popular." Passarelli's work has not gone unnoticed, and the group has received many awards. In March, Seattle's FBI office recognized her service with a Community Leadership Award. In late April, Passarelli flew to Washington, D.C., where she met FBI Director James Comey and was honored nationally. The Soup Ladies are 55- strong, but Passarelli wants that number to grow. "We need more volunteers, in particular from out-of-state. Because we pay our own way to disaster areas, it would be great to have trained Soup Ladies closer to the loca- tion that we can tap into." Passarelli also would like to raise awareness about the Soup Ladies' services by reaching out to more fire and police depart- ments around the country. "We will gladly go to any disaster scene anywhere but we need more police and fire departments to know we exist and request our services," she said. After all these years, Passarelli knows it's more than just about the food. It's what a hot, home-cooked meal signi- fies—that someone cares. "These rescue workers are doing a hard job day in, day out," she said. "It takes its toll. The Soup Ladies want to make their lives a little bit better." Even if it's just one bowl at a time. For more information, visit: www.soupladies.org. Although based in the Northwest, the Soup Ladies also travel out-of-state, including this trip to Oklahoma, where they provided meals to tornado survivors. (JBLearning.com) Ginger Passarelli and the Soup Ladies provide hot home-cooked meals to police, firefighters, and other first responders at disaster sites and crime sce- nes. (Pierce Prairie Post) SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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