Bellevue High School’s arcade was filled with music, high socks, chef hats and soup Wednesday, Feb. 10 for the fifth Soup4Simpson event.
Students danced on top of tables, calling out to others to donate money and get their soup. Long tables were lined with students in chef hats and colorful high socks serving up ladles filled with soup donated by Campbell’s Soup and passing out Otis Spunkmeyer cookies.
Soup4Simpson is an annual event that Bellevue High School holds in honor of Hunter Simpson, a graduate of Bellevue High School who passed away on New Year’s Eve 2005 due to a malignant tumor. Throughout his short life, Simpson was often involved in service projects to benefit struggling teenagers in the Seattle area.
In 2005 while he was attending college at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, he decided to just eat a bowl of soup (it was the cheapest) for his meals and save up the remaining money on his meal-plan account.
When the semester came to an end, Simpson bought all of the non-perishable food he could find with the money he had left over, which totaled $998, and delivered it to New Horizons Ministries in Seattle, a group that helps homeless teens.
Right before his death, Make-A-Wish Foundation granted Hunter a wish, he then re-gifted that wish and donated it to the New Horizons Ministries to pay for new couches and a pool table for the organization.
“Hunter was always so passionate about changing the lives of youth that we serve,” said Charina Schubert, developing manager at New Horizons. “The things he gave to us are things we use everyday.”
Each year Soup4Simpson allows an opportunity for students and members of the community to donate money to go towards New Horizons Ministries and in return get a bowl of soup and a cookie.
“It’s really cool to see his legacy live on and celebrate his life and his passion,” said Amber Ensign, the gift process manager at New Horizons.
This year, the students and some staff members wore high socks to celebrate and honor Simpson at the event.
“Hunter started wearing the high socks his senior year,” said Anne Simpson, Hunter’s mother. “It’s fun to see the new things that kids come up with to honor him each year.”
Kathy Adams, an accounting teacher at Bellevue High School, is the director of the event. She coordinated the activities and found the student volunteers.
“Kids come up to me asking if they can help, and these are kids from all grades and all groups,” said Adams. “His story is so amazing to these kids that they just want to be involved. I already have list for next year.”
Though Simpson graduated from Bellevue High School in 2005, and most of the students there now never knew him, they are still impressed by his story and the legacy he left. Taylor Brazen, a senior at Bellevue High School, was one of the many volunteers who never had the opportunity to meet Simpson but still wanted to help out.
“My sister went to school with him [Simpson] and said he was someone who always tried to make the world a better place, so I volunteered,” said Taylor.
Cole Nordstrom, a senior at Bellevue High School, also volunteered to serve soup.
“It’s tradition,” said Cal. “Hunter’s brother, Blake, is one of my friends so it is nice to be able to help out family and friends.”
After only about a half-hour of Soup4Simpson, volunteers were running frantically up to Adams informing her that there might not be enough soup due to the fact that there were so many people donating money and getting their soup.
“It’s such a great fundraiser,” said Anne Simpson. “There is something wonderful about kids raising money for kids.”
The total amount raised will be revealed at an assembly and presented to New Horizons.
For more information about New Horizons Ministry or how to help go to www.nhmin.org.
