Ten year-old Natalia Marsh-Welton knows how cold she feels while getting chemotherapy for a brain tumor. She also knows how hard it must be too for those homeless and without food.
Natalia says, "I am cold all of the time. Imagine how cold people without homes must be." As reported by Brad Evans of WLWT in Cincinnati, she decided to take action.
Natalia took one of her own talents, which is cooking. She loves to watch cooking shows and preparing meals with her mother. Natalia decided to make a soup to feed the hungry and homeless.
Make A Wish of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky helped make her dream come true. Natalia met with Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel, owner of Jean-Robert's Table restaurant in Cincinnati. Together they designed a special soup which Natalia named "Chef Natalia's Soup of Love."
Then, last Thursday night, Natalia brought her soup and blankets to Cincinnati's Drop-Inn Center. This center, part of the Feeding America network, provides food and shelter for the city's homeless. Panera Bread donated bowls for the soup. She fed those in need on one of the coldest nights of the year. WLWT's Sheree Paolello reported last night on the NBC affiliate.
It's love that can help those in time of suffering whether it's cancer, hunger or homelessness. Natalia wants everyone to share her recipe and her compassion. Read this Make A Wish document for that recipe. "Chef Natalia's Soup of Love" is on page two of the document.
We have almost 50 million people who are hungry, and some homeless, in the United States. Worldwide there are about 842 million people suffering from hunger. Many policies, plans and courses of action are needed to help them.
Where does all that start? It starts with compassion first and foremost. That inspires action. Natalia shows us that. That is how you can end hunger in this country and around the world.
Natalia reminds us of how the youngest can inspire. Natalia's grandmother says, "I am in awe of my granddaughter's strength and compassion!"
Natalia says, "I would like to give people soup and blankets. I don't want there to be hunger." She says it makes her feel warm inside. That is a feeling she wants everyone to have, something that can last "forever-ever-ever-ever."
You can help Natalia's wish by spreading her recipe, doing what you can to end hunger and homelessness around the world. Make A Wish says you can use the hashtag #NataliasWish to spread the word.