Making Soup and Community for The Dugout

On January 17, our Volunteer Wave team had such a great time making soup for The Dugout in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside using the Watari Kitchen. We cooked up honey pork chipotle and potato soup and spent the shift chopping, stirring, and sharing laughs while putting together something warm and nourishing for people in the neighbourhood.

The Dugout is a long‑standing charity and community space that supports residents of the Downtown Eastside. It is known as a “community living room” where people can come for a safe space off the street, enjoy free snacks and coffee, and find connection and support throughout the day. The Dugout also offers one of the first hot meals of the day with soup, coffee, and bread to hundreds of people every morning, and it helps counter isolation and loneliness in the community.

Volunteering with The Dugout feels different from other shifts because it’s such a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. People stop by for a meal and end up chatting with volunteers or just relaxing with a warm cup of coffee. Our team appreciated the chance to see how something as simple as a bowl of soup can create community and make someone’s day feel a bit lighter.

Making soup together was fun, and it felt good knowing the food we prepared would help fuel people in a place where warmth, care, and friendship are offered every single day. We left feeling inspired and reminded that acts of service, even small ones like stirring a big pot of soup, matter in real ways.

We are grateful for opportunities like this and look forward to more chances to serve alongside community partners like The Dugout. It’s a space where food, conversation, and kindness come together in a way that really shows the heart of community care.