Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault & Family Violence (USAFV) held the annual SOUP-OFF Fundraiser & Membership Meeting on Saturday, March 28, and it was a tremendous success, with about 120 people attending the event.

Auctioneers Shawna Rudio, Mary Heimes, and Roger Deffendall worked the crowd, charming them into raising their bids, and reminding them of the important services that USAFV provides to the community.   The volunteer judges (Mayor Shirley Marquardt, Eren Fernandez, Tom Cohenour, Kyle Clemmer, Sharon Svarny-Livingston, and Kanesia Price) had the enviable task of sampling the 25 mouth-watering soups, stews, chowders, and chilies entered by local cooks.  After much debate, they chose this year’s winners:  Jonathon Kirchhofer, a student chef, won the Soups & Chowders category with his delicious Just Potato Soup, while Erin Iszler came in first in the Vegetarian group with her tasty Thai Curried Peanut Soup.  Debbie Sensky reigned in the Chili category with her yummy Sweet & Spicy Chili, and Dayna Zion’s delectable Three Pigs & Bear Soup took the prize for Exotic entries.  Davlin Hall’s scrumptious Mediterranean Fish Soup was the winner in the Heart Healthy category, and Alysha Richardson’s beautiful Belly Full of Borscht Soup won the prize for Best Presentation. The lucky winner of the 2006 Subaru Forester was Julie Schacht.

The 2015 SOUP-OFF was a wonderful success for USAFV, raising more than $17,000 for the program.