Soup, Surplus, and Community: Cooking for The Dugout in the Downtown Eastside

April 18th was a full day for the Volunteer Wave community, with one group tackling a trail clean up and invasive species removal in Burnaby alongside Web of Life and Wildscaping Our Neighbourhood), and another group spending their Saturday in the kitchen, cooking up something warm and nourishing for the visitors of The Dugout.

For those unfamiliar, The Dugout is a welcoming "living room" space right at the heart of East Hastings in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. It’s a place where community members can drop in for snacks, refreshments, and a sense of care and belonging.

After several soup-making sessions at the Watari community kitchen, we've found our rhythm. We've learned that keeping the focus on one main recipe lets the team work with more intention. We zone in on what’s important: rescuing surplus food, getting creative with what's available, and producing something that earns glowing reviews from the people we're cooking for. This time, under the guidance of volunteer Chef Chloe (who also happens to be our Visual Communications Manager!), a team of nine volunteers crafted a creative, rustic Italian wedding soup using food surplus rescued from large retailers including Costco.

Several of our volunteers were brand new to the Volunteer Wave community and to the soup-making experience, but they dove right in. From dropping ingredients into the pot to stirring, taste-testing, and packaging the soup for transport, new and returning volunteers worked side by side to get it done. Along with the soup, we brought an abundance of other rescued food to The Dugout, courtesy of Heart Tattoo Society, who handles the transport of rescued food to Watari Counselling and Social Services– an official Food Hub for the City of Vancouver. A special thank you to Roman Ansari, who always generously lets us take what we need to give back to our volunteers and the people we serve.

Volunteers who stayed for the delivery got to see The Dugout in full action, from handing out snacks, coffee, to giving away donated bread and groceries to DTES community members. It's a true reminder of why this work matters, and where our hard work in the kitchen actually goes– right to the people in the neighbourhood who need it most. Soup-making is always a full production, from collecting rescued ingredients, to cooking, to delivering everything back to The Dugout to be served the next day. Wholesome, well-rounded, and deeply worthwhile, just how we like it.

As we head into the warmer months, we'll be expanding our kitchen repertoire beyond soups to include more seasonal and refreshing options. Think sandwiches, salads, fried rice, and custard pies, all made with rescued food. Good food shouldn't go to waste, and nutritious meals should be a right for everyone. We cook for The Dugout every month, so check out Bloomerang to join us at the next one!