PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — During the pandemic, Maureen Carreno of Delaware County became known as “Souper Mummum,” sharing her soup recipes on Facebook and meals with the community.
“I share photos of what I make — good, bad and ugly,” she said. “Then it evolved with the pandemic into a place where I would post that I’m making big pots of soup, and then I did drive-by soup [deliveries] all through the pandemic.”
The weekly soup drive-bys have ended, but the giving hasn’t. Lately, Carreno has been using her passion and talent for cooking to help families fleeing abuse at the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County.
Recently, its safe house closed, and women and their families were put up in hotels. Carreno made microwavable meals for them so “they could prepare them because they no longer had a kitchen.”
Carreno wanted to help more, but she wasn’t in a financial position to do so. So, she put out the call for help on Facebook, and her followers delivered.
“I said, ‘Anybody have like a spare turkey or something from a grocery store or something they didn’t get to? Whatever — I’ll make it for them,’” she said. “A woman brought over a bag with Cornish game hens and somebody brought bread and somebody brought butternut squash.”
They even contributed to her Amazon Wish List.
“People really came through,” she said. “I just like to do good, but I am not wealthy. So it was great to have a whole lot of help.”
As a domestic violence survivor herself, Carreno understands the importance of support and the kindness of strangers.
“It’s a hard thing to escape that,” she said. “Sometimes it’s financially hard. Sometimes it’s emotionally hard. There’s so many prongs to that, and I’m hardly an expert. I’ve just lived through it, and it's good to be in a place now where I’m a long time away from that. I can see ways to help people.”