Good Cause: Buy Soup From MANNA

Whether its the nagging co-worker peddling her daughter’s treats or the cute little Brownies beckoning you from a table at your local grocery, it’s hard to ignore the fact that it’s Girl Scout Cookie season. Those badge-hungry darlings will stop at nothing to make sure you empty your wallet on multiple boxes of their bite-sized treats, but before you completely drain your charitable funds on snacks that’ll wreak havoc on your figure, consider something that’s a little more nutritious.

MANNA, the local nonprofit that provides meals to those affected by diseases like HIV/AIDS and cancer, is selling quarts of their most popular soups — chicken noodle, minestrone and creamy corn chowder. At $10 a pop, each purchase is enough to fund three meals for one of their 1,000 house-bound patients in the tri-state area. There are two ways to buy — and none of them involve haggling with an adorable 10-year-old: Visit their website at mannapa.org or call 215-496-2662. Soups can be picked up at MANNA’s Steven Korman Nutrition Center (2323 Ranstead St.) starting Jan. 24.

With Super Bowl and Oscar parties on the horizon, it wouldn’t hurt to have a stock of easy-to-make grub on hand for guests. You can feed them Thin Mints and Samoas for dessert. See there — menu done!