Hot Soup, Live Lit Converge To Help Swim Café Owner's Cancer Fight

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Dec 3, 2013 5:30PM

Karen Gerod (left).

Swim Café owner Karen Gerod has been a staunch supporter of food-focused fundraisers and local artists since she opened her coffee shop nearly a decade ago. Gerod has been a regular participant of Hideout’s “Soup & Bread” series since its inception six years ago (often providing a vegan soup and plates of cookies) and hosts the “That's All She Wrote” storytelling series at her Noble Square shop.

Gerod has been battling cancer for the last year and her medical expenses have mounted which has the producers of "Soup and Bread" and "That’s All She Wrote" teaming up for a Dec. 11 fundraiser at Hideout to help offset Gerod’s medical bills.

The "Soup and Bread" team of Martha Bayne and Sheila Sachs have rounded up soups from Milk & Honey, Hoosier Mama’s Allison Scott and artist and “Mortified! Chicago” host Shay DeGrandis, among others. "That’s All She Wrote" hosts Angela Bernander and JH Palmer will read stories on the topic of health care and caretaking along with Bayne, Tom Wolferman, Sheri Reda and Dmitry Samarov. Lawrence Peters will spin tunes throughout.

The fundraiser begins at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 11. If you can’t attend a YouCare page has been set up where donations will be accepted.