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MMI’s Penny Horner-Sullivan, left, and Joanne Johnson enjoy some Stone Soup in the JP Lord cafeteria. The event is a 15-year tradition of MMI’s Adopt-a-School, JP Lord. |
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Teacher Joanie Tekippe adds to the “Stone Soup” filled with fresh ingredients donated by MMI and JP Lord employees. Four large pots of soup fed more than 150 attendees. |
Travelers visit a village, hoping for some food to satisfy their hunger. When no one offers to share even a morsel, they put a pot over a fire, fill it with water and drop in a large stone.
As villagers gather, they explain that they’re making “Stone Soup.” The residents of the village gradually contribute small additions to the soup and the result is a delicious meal that is enjoyed by everyone.
The Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Adopt-a-School, JP Lord, brought the fable to life last month when dozens of MMI and JP Lord employees donated canned goods and fresh vegetables to make their own version of stone soup.
The tradition has been taking place for more than 15 years, said organizer and teacher Joanie Tekippe.
“It’s a fun thing to do to get to know our neighbors at MMI who adopt our families at Christmastime, hold fundraisers for our students and provide our graduates with gifts,” Tekippe said. “Everybody pitches in and it really creates a sense of community.”
Despite a curious variety of ingredients including cream corn and okra, the end result usually tastes like a delectable minestrone or vegetable soup, said Kathy Olin, an office associate in the human genetics department at MMI.
It is said that whoever finds the stone is supposed to be lucky, but the tradition at JP Lord is that whoever finds the stone does all the dishes.