Ginger Passarelli certainly knows how to stay busy.

Passarelli, a Black Diamond resident who founded the Soup Ladies and owns Mama’s Steak and Pasta, recently returned from Oklahoma where members of her nonprofit cooked for folks coping with the devastation of the tornado which swept through Shawnee, Okla., with deadly force May 19. The day after returning, Passarelli accepted a donation of more than $2,000 from Dave Riffle, general manager of Taco Time in Covington.

Riffle explained Taco Time locations in Washington state have sold coupon books to raise money for charities in the communities they serve for a number of years. This year one of the assistant managers suggested donating the proceeds to the Soup Ladies. Riffle thought it was a great idea. Each coupon book sells for $1. All of the proceeds of the sales goes to the charity selected by the store.

“It’s been a great idea,” Riffle said. “Ginger is much more connected to the community. It was a great experience. So many people know about the Soup Ladies at times (the coupon book) almost sold itself.”

It is a great partnership for all involved, Riffle explains.

The coupon books are sold throughout the month of January. Customers get $5 worth of coupons for $1, which brings them back to the restaurant, Riffle said, while the Soup Ladies received a donation which can be used to continue their mission.

“Since we never know what’s going to happen, we’re always ready to go,” Passarelli said. “We don’t charge agencies for the food, ever. It just helps us to serve our first responders locally.”

Riffle said it was the most successful coupon book sale the Covington restaurant has had and he would like to give Passarelli a bigger check next year.

“I feel good about it and I think we can do more,” he said.

The Soup Ladies have fed first responders at all manner of emergencies for more than seven years, having traveled to help Hurricane Katrina victims, to southwestern Washington after flooding, and to Southern California to feed firefighters during wildfires there, to name a few.

In the past six months Passarelli led teams to New York City to feed people after Hurricane Sandy then most recently to Oklahoma.

“You have to get really creative when you’re in a disaster zone,” Passarelli said. “It’s like ‘Chopped’ on steroids because you never know what you’re going to get. You want (the food) to taste good because these people just lost everything.”

In November, about three weeks after the storm, Passarelli went to New York. They spent eight days, including Thanksgiving, in Rockaway Beach which is part of the borough of Queens. It’s on an island and when the power went out, the residents were isolated, without power or gas for their cars which may not run anyway after the destructive power of the storm. There was no kitchen facility to cook in.

They had a small space, used barbecues and buffet burners to cook, and split open a trash bag then spread it over a table to have a sanitary work surface. They couldn’t use anything which was soaked in or holding water from the storm surge because of the potential for contamination.

“We still put out a couple hundred meals a day,” Passarelli said. “For the people who lived (in Rockaway Beach), there was no escaping the cold. It was bitter, bitter cold.”

Just a few blocks from where they set up shop, Passarelli said, was a police station. So, the first people they fed every day were the police officers, taking food to the station. They would also take hot food to the officers stationed at traffic signals where the power was still out who would work 16 hour days. Then they fed residents who were still without power.

While there, Passarelli said, they noticed there was a need for underwear for children. She called a Soup Lady who did not travel with them. This volunteer, Passarelli said, spread the word at work about the need of residents and in two days collected 1,250 pairs of children’s underwear, as well as dozens of socks and gloves. They were shipped out and arrived two days after Passarelli and the team returned to Washington state.

While in Oklahoma in May the mission as always, was to give those who lost their homes and belongings to the tornado, comfort food. They made potato salad using thawed tater tots, baked beans with thousand island dressing when no ketchup or barbecue sauce could be found, macaroni and cheese, pasta salads, smoked meats and so much more.

“We’ve really become experts at comfort food, delicious food, that’s fast and efficient,” Passarelli said.

When they first arrived in Shawnee, Passarelli said, they connected with the sheriff and mayor who then found them an elementary school kitchen to cook in. They put out 1,100 meals every morning. In one day they made more than 3,000 meals.

“They couldn’t believe we’d come all that way just to feed them,’” Passarelli said of the residents of Bethel Acres, the neighborhood they cooked in for seven days. “The people there are so polite, so gracious.”

Passarelli said she didn’t have to open a door for herself the whole time as boys and young men would run ahead of her to do so, for example.

Before they left Shawnee, Passarelli said, she spent a day in Moore, Okla., the site of some of the worst devastation. She connected the team from Real Life Church, where she has been a member for years, to the folks they need to talk to so they could be most effective while there helping.

Passarelli reflected on what the Soup Ladies have become over the years.

She is particularly thankful for the support she received from Kathy Decker from King County, whom Passarelli said saw value in what they were doing and supported the Soup Ladies from the beginning.

“How did this all go from taking a pot of soup to church to this,” Passarelli said she wondered recently.

It’s about keeping busy by helping people, one warm bowl of soup or casserole or pasta at a time.