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people will need to eat, and there's nothing she loves more than feeding people — especially emergency responders.

Senecal, who owns Mama Passarelli's restaurant in Black Diamond, was watching the news one morning the week of Oct. 22 when she got a call from pastor Steve Murray of Real Life Church in Maple Valley. Murray asked her if they should send a team, and Senecal told him yes.

A few men, members of Real Life Church, and the Soup Ladies – as Passarelli and her fellow volunteers are known – were soon on the way to California to feed those who were fighting the fires that raged for two weeks. Loretta Green, who is a member of Real Life, said the congregation got an e-mail that same day asking if anyone wanted to go with the team. Green has been to the Gulf Coast with the Soup Ladies, who have taken numerous trips there following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, so it was easy to join the team for this trip. 'Once you get up the courage or the desire to go some place and you do it once, it's easier the next time because you know the difference you made,' Green said.

On the road to southern California, 'we drove pretty much straight through and were able to stop twice to sleep,' she said. 'We brought down some dry goods and pots and pans. We brought all of our equipment with us.' Senecal said the team arrived at a command center on a Saturday morning. They were initially going to be assigned to the Delmar Fairgrounds to feed people who had been evacuated from Qualcomm Field. 'That would have been fine, but we wanted to feed emergency workers,' she said. 'Apparently Herb Smith, the head chaplain for San Diego County, has some pull, and he got on the phone.' Smith was able to get the Soup Ladies assigned to Valley Center, Calif., which was the scene of the Witch Fire and the Poomacha Fire, about 15 miles north of Escondido. 'We cooked for five days,' Senecal said. 'We got up about 5:30 a.m. and got there about 7. We made about 15 dozen eggs and I don't even know how many pounds of sausage. That was the standard breakfast we made every day, and they loved it.'

Green said the emergency workers enjoyed the food 'because it was warm and good.' In addition to police officers, firefighters and emergency aid workers, the Soup Ladies fed members of the Marine Corps and the National Guard, as well as Air Force personnel. 'These Marines – I'd go around and ask, 'How's your dinner?' and they would say, 'Oh, it's the best',' Senecal said. 'We had a blast. We worked really hard.'

'It was such a privilege to be there and cooking for all these young men who were away from home,' Green said.
At one point, the ladies asked to use a fire station in Valley Center that was being used as a command center for operations, but Senecal said she had an idea for the space in the kitchen that wouldn't be obtrusive.
'They don't let civilians in the back door,' Senecal said. 'Washing dishes was an issue, so I asked (the fire chief), 'We've got a ton of apples. Do you think I could bake some stuff in your kitchen?'' By the time they left, Green said, they'd made good friends of all the emergency workers and military personnel who used the station as a place to rest, relax and get a hot meal. 'They were so nice to us. By the time we left, they gave us all a bouquet of flowers and they gave us all shirts from their station,' Green said. 'We just wanted to help,' she added.

Emergency services officials were so impressed with the Soup Ladies that they asked Senecal to go back and teach them what she's learned from her experience feeding emergency workers locally and across the country.
Senecal has multiple certifications in emergency response and feeding people after disasters through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The Soup Ladies hope to have more of an impact. Some day, Senecal believes, the Soup Ladies concept can go national, with the potential for groups to sprout up in communities across the country. 'We showed them what (citizen involvement) could look like, and that was a really good thing,' Senecal said. 'We fed a lot of people, made friends with a lot of people, and our mission was accomplished. We made a huge impact.'

Staff writer Kris Hill can be reached at (425) 432-1209 and khill@reporternewspapers.com

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