About 550 people from all walks of life got a taste of what it might be like to go hungry during the St. Petersburg Free Clinic’s annual Soup’s On awareness-raising event Friday October 2 at the St. Petersburg Coliseum. For lunch each attendee received one cup of soup, saltine crackers and a brownie.
“I know in a few hours I’ll be hungry again,” Beth Houghton, the Free Clinic’s executive director, told the assembly. She said 1 out of 7 people in Pinellas County, and 4 out 7 children, are “food insecure,” which means they often don’t have enough to eat. Through its food bank the Free Clinic feeds 50,000 people a month, Houghton said. The Soup’s On event raised $81,000 and 5,000 pounds of food. The Free Clinic also provides healthcare and shelter to those in need.