It's SouperNatural: W.Va. community center is home to a new dinner program

Dr. Alissa Harris cooked up an idea, sparked by a dream, to bring locally grown foods to the needy in parts of Jefferson County, W.Va.

She turned that idea into a reality when she and a group of friends started the SouperNatural Kitchen and hosted their first SouperTuesday dinner in January at the Bolivar (W.Va.) Community Center. Harris said approximately 30 tickets were sold for the inaugural event.


Harris, a chiropractor, analyzes and keeps journals about her nighttime visions, said she had a dream in November in which she was pushing a cart.

"I was basically delivering food," she said.

When she encountered a McDonald's bag in the dream, however, she recalled saying, "If I have to deliver that, I won't do it."

Her analysis of that dream: "A really big part of my life is to help people find good food."

She wanted to find a way to bring fresh, local food to as many people as possible and decided that hosting dinners was a good way to start. On the fourth Tuesday of each month, the Bolivar Community Center is transformed into a kitchen and classroom, and the proceeds from ticket sales are used to buy food from local farmers, which is given to those in need in the Bolivar community. 

During the first dinner, on Jan. 24, Shepherdstown, W.Va., chef Elizabeth Gallery taught a 45-minute class on how to make beef broth. She used beef bones from Roxley Farms in Kearneysville, W.Va., and butternut squash to create a hearty soup, which was served to attendees.

The women behind the SouperNatural Kitchen share a love for all-natural, locally produced food and for giving to others.

"I think that community service is the foundation for health and happiness for society," said Gallery, who owned Stone Soup Bistro in Shepherdstown for six years. She sold the restaurant in May 2011 so she could have more personal time and could pursue an education on using food for healing.

"I love pure, whole ingredients," said Gallery, who has been in the restaurant industry for 20 years.

So does Evie Lotze, who is co-owner of Roxley Farms with her husband, Chris. They purchased the farm, next to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, on July 4, 2001, where they raise black Angus on pure grass, not hormones.

Lotze also has a business called Ways To Wellness, which she created three years ago with her daughter-in-law, Dr. Kristina Maciunas, who works at Shenandoah Community Health in Martinsburg, W.Va., and Harris, who owns Harpers Ferry Chiropractic. The focus of the business, according to its website at www.ways2wellness.org, is to help people become physically, spiritually and mentally well while still tending to life's responsibilities.

Gallery used Evie Lotze's beef and butternut squash soup recipe for the first SouperTuesday meal.

Accompanying that soup was sprouted-grain bread made by Joan Douglas, who runs Bernie's Bread from her home in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

The bread business is named after a friend, Bernie Drabkin, who died five years ago of cancer. He often helped the homeless, sometimes getting them hotel rooms, where they could shower and eat a meal.

"I wanted to do something to honor that man and that name," Douglas said.

She does so by using all the profits from her bread sales to provide food and milk to needy neighbors, and to others through her church, Damascus (Md.) Wesleyan Church, and local ministries.

"My husband and I really love helping to provide," Douglas said. Her husband of 24 years, Allen is one of the ministers at Damascus Wesleyan.