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By: Litsa Pappas

WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — A Bridgewater man is lending a helping hand to the homeless in a big way this winter.

SEE ONLINE ARTICLE AND WATCH VIDEO HERE

Known as “Soup Man,” Peter Kelleher delivers warm clothes and food with his own bus full of donations.

What looks like a walk-in closet, full of jackets, shoes and scarves is actually Kelleher’s bus.

Peter Kelleher has become a local “Souperman,” known for his donations of winter clothes and homemade soup.

See full article HERE

Peter was selected as “Hero of the month” from Century 21 and the Boston Bruins Foundation. Peter was at the Bruins vs. LA Kings game on Tuesday, December 17 and appeared on the jumbotron during the 2nd intermission!

By Marc Larocque
Enterprise Staff Writer

The story of Peter Kelleher and his “Support the Soupman” efforts caught the attention of the “Today” show. Al Roker came to Brockton on Friday to watch Kelleher in action, doling out soup to the homeless at Perkins Park.

BROCKTON – The story of “The Soupman” is going national, as he continues to ladle out warm food in downtown Brockton, with a side of compassion.

Famed weatherman and NBC television personality Al Roker came to Brockton on Friday to interview Bridgewater resident Peter Kelleher, better known as “The Soupman,” for an upcoming segment on the “Today” show about his effort to help the homeless, by feeding them cups hot soup, passing out warm clothes, and offering hot showers from a converted trailer. Kelleher said he hopes the national spotlight could help him garner more donations and volunteers for the “Support The Soupman” initiative.

“When I first started this, I didn’t expect any of this,” said Kelleher, who began his initiative by passing soup out to the homeless on Saturdays about two years ago in downtown Brockton. “It’s the beginning of bringing us to another level.”

Kelleher said that the “Today” show segment about his “Support the Soupman” efforts is tentatively expected to air on Wednesday morning. Kelleher said Roker’s crew first came to his house as he prepared a vat of hamburger soup, and then the two were joined by Mayor Moises Rodrigues in downtown Brockton outside Perkins Park, which is known to some as “Needle Park” due to a reputation for drug use by homeless people who gather there. Roker and Kelleher passed out hot cups of soup, and gave out boots to those in need.

“He has a heart,” Kelleher said about Roker. “He was passing stuff out from the back of the bus. It just touched me that this is where it has come.”

Kelleher, 59, said he started his “Support the Soupman” initiative as a result of the death of his son, Travis Kelleher, who was 32 years old when he suffered a fatal opioid overdose as a homeless person living in Bangor. Since then, Kelleher has been able to enlist the support of volunteers and corporate donors, such as Ocean State Job Lot, providing time and donations to accomplish his “simple” mission of “people helping people.”

Earlier this year, Kelleher unveiled the portable shower unit, which he has stationed frequently outside of The Haven community day center for the homeless. The Bridgewater man said his ultimate goal is to get other shower units for all major cities in New England. Kelleher said he’s struggling to set up his portable shower in Boston, after seeking approval from the mayor’s office for specific locations.

“People helping people is pretty simple. That’s where I’m at with this,” Kelleher said. “I just want to help. It’s not acceptable for anybody to have to sleep out in the cold. That’s somebody’s kids. It’s somebody’s child. It’s somebody’s mother. It’s somebody’s father. It’s not fair.”

Kelleher said he’s also establishing a coffee and soup line of products that he wants people to be able to buy in stores in order to fund the “Soupman” effort in the future. That way, Kelleher said, he could dedicate more time to helping the poor on streets, instead of always searching for donations.

“I have to find a way to fund this,” said Kelleher, who is often joined by his dog Koji. “Hopefully, this (appearance on the ‘Today’ show) will pull in some people that that can afford to help.. … This isn’t about Peter Kelleher, in any way shape or form. This is about people helping people.”

BROCKTON — On a radiant fall morning, a small crowd of people mill around a parking lot behind a drop-in center for the homeless. Some are rifling through the open bins of clothes stacked on a few buffet tables, and occasionally one person climbs into a boxy silver trailer that looks like the kind towed around by landscapers and contractors.

But instead of holding tools, the trailer has three tight compartments, each with a shower stall and tiled floor. One by one, the homeless tote toiletries, fresh clothing, and towels into the trailer, and emerge a few minutes later, shining skin and damp hair, usually looking a bit more cheerful than before.

Read the full article here.

By Liz Neisloss

Peter Kelleher removed the lid from a simmering pot of soup and a large waft of steam rose up.

“This is gonna be delicious,” he said, stirring his signature “All-American Hamburg soup.” It’s a batch meant to feed 75 to 80 people.

Kelleher is known as “the Soupman” — a nickname he picked up after he began making soup nearly two years ago and ladling it out to people experiencing homelessness in Brockton, Mass., from the back of his pickup truck.

Personal tragedy triggered his mission. In 2016, Kelleher’s son Travis, who had battled opioid addiction for years, died from a drug overdose while experiencing homelessness in Maine. Kelleher, who is from Bridgewater, said his grief compelled him to begin making soup to serve those without homes and, urged on by the overwhelming need he saw, began giving out backpacks filled with gloves and toiletries. That urge still drives him today and his mission has grown.

Soup is now served with bagged lunches. As Kelleher recently prepared his soup, a father and his 11-year-old daughter dropped off dozens of bagged lunches made by local families. School children decorate the paper bags with colorful drawings and their own messages of encouragement.

In 2018, “The Soupman” became a Massachusetts state registered nonprofit, and now operates out of a locally donated school bus and a van — both painted bright red and emblazoned with “Help Us Help the Homeless” and “SupportTheSoupman.org.” An array of local businesses and a small army of volunteers fill out his ranks.

Massachusetts has an estimated 20,000 people experiencing homelessness, according to the most recent 2018 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. While the numbers have fluctuated over the years, that number was a 14% increase from the prior year.

Kelleher’s large bus serves as a “closet” for the clothing donations. On a recent freezing day in Brockton, volunteers sorted coats according to size in a parking lot where storage containers hold donations.

When “The Soupman’s” van and bus pulled into Brockton, people soon gathered for soup scooped out by Kelleher and bagged lunches handed out by volunteer Carolina Desroche. A line quickly formed outside the bus where other volunteers, accompanied by Kelleher’s service dog Koji, filled requests for coats, gloves and boots.

Donna Eliot, who has lived in a shelter in Brockton since an apartment fire in early October, waited in line in shower sandals and socks. She left beaming after being matched with a new pair of tall, fleece-lined boots.

“The Soupman” also gives out toiletries. A recent event at a Bridgewater, Mass., salon yielded three carloads of items, including sanitary products for women, which are often unaffordable for most women experiencing homelessness. Helping people access hygiene and cleanliness has expanded “The Soupman’s” goals.

After reading about a lack of showers for homeless people in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Kelleher raised money to buy a mobile shower unit. The unit has three shower stalls, including a stall suited for people with disabilities, and can run off a garden hose or fire hydrant.

The shower unit now goes to Pawtucket twice a week and is parked once a week in Brockton. Bins of clean clothing are displayed outside the van. Weekly visits to Taunton, Mass., were suspended by the city for cold weather, but there’s a plan to bring the van to Fall River, Mass., in January, where the numbers of those using the van will be tracked.

After hearing from one homeless woman in Pawtucket that the van had allowed her to shower for the first time in eight months, Kelleher said he vowed to expand the shower program.

“I’m gonna have a portable shower in every city in New England one way or another before I die,” he said.