Levison Heads West to Be Kind

Souper Jenny loaded up a rented RV to make multiple stops serving free soups in Kindness Tour.

By Marcia Caller Jaffe October 29, 2020, 4:22 pm Edit

After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.

Actress and food entrepreneur Jenny Levison has been observing the country’s divisiveness, feelings of loss, uncertainty and worry about illness. So she decided to do something. “I felt a call to action; that it was my time to give back. The world is in a tough place right now on all fronts. When I thought about what I could do to contribute, being kind was my number one thought. It’s the theme for our restaurants this year (and always!) I decided that I wanted to travel around the country, just being kind!”

Jenny Levison has supplied Atlanta with many of her talents, including acting and cookbook authoring in addition to restaurant entrepreneur.

So on Oct. 15 she took a six-week sabbatical from her restaurant business, Souper Jenny, with five Atlanta locations, to head west in a rented RV to serve free food to those in need. Accompanying Levison on what is being called a Kindness Tour is Meg Gillentine Morris, her travel buddy, local actress and artist. The plan is to travel for 42 days, posting on Facebook and Instagram so they can be followed. She is researching two cities at a time.

First, she will find a local farm to buy produce to turn into her celebrated soups. “We will find people in need or just lucky strangers! We will make a 20-quart pot at a time and bring a second pot just in case.”

On the menu will be her Dad’s favorite turkey chili, a hearty vegetable, or curry chicken, among others that are classified as hearty and autumn-themed.

The T-shirts sell for $25 at all five locations with profits paying for tour soup prep.

Of her travel companion, Levison explained, “Meg’s husband and son will be in their own RV behind us. We plan to shop at as many farms as possible and supplement with stops at groceries. Our plan is to support the cities we visit as much as possible.”

Levison is also selling “kindness” T-shirts for $25 in all sizes at all the Souper Jenny locations. Each shirt purchase represents 20 quarts of a hearty soup to feed 40 people. All proceeds go directly to soup prep.

Recently they took the RV to Stone Mountain for a dress rehearsal passing out free soup. Morris said, “There we learned the ins and outs of the RV and laughed our heads off. It was a big sign that we are exactly where we are supposed to be in this adventure, … experiencing loads of joy and unexpected moments of delicious humanity.”

Levison leaves readers with this charge: “I challenge others to perform random acts of kindness now.”

To support the Kindness Tour through T-shirt sales, visit Souper Jenny locations in Roswell, Brookhaven, Buckhead, Decatur and the Westside.