SUDBURY -- It was quite a sight in downtown Sudbury on Tuesday, a scene of giving and the holiday spirit, as hundreds braved the elements to take part in a “soup-chain.”

While it has been a tough few weeks for Dallas French and his team from Peddler’s Pub and Eatery, they've had to close their restaurant due to a fire, but they still managed to cook up a creation to help out.

"You know, we’ve been in the downtown core for a very long time as well, and we want to lend our support as much as we can. And we’re very grateful for all the support we’ve received from all of our neighbours," said French.

Peddler’s is just one of five businesses paying it forward with help from students at Marymount Academy.

"We both go to school downtown, we work downtown, so to give back to our community is definitely something that we’re going to remember and definitely benefit," said Anna Weiler, a Marymount student.

More than 300 students from the Catholic girls' school took part, forming a chain with volunteers from business-to-business, kitchen-to-kitchen, collecting portions of soup on the way.

Bundled up, being careful not to spill, the volunteers helped 200 bowls of soup make the 1.1 kilometre trek to The Samaritan Centre ahead of the lunch rush.

"It was pretty cool to give back to the community, to be outside and just helping pass the soup down to the soup kitchen," said Stephanie Prior, another Marymount student.

Lori Holden is the principal at Marymount Academy. She says she hopes this project will build empathy.

"I hope that they take away that everyone needs to have warm clothes, warm food, everybody deserves to have that joy, and love this time and all times of the year," said Holden.

Downtown business owners Sue Peters, of The Cedar Nest, and Deke Zaher, of Zaher's Small Batch, helped get this idea rolling.

"It was really impactful watching everyone down the street. There was a couple of, I think we need the police next year to get us through some crosswalks, but it was absolutely fantastic," said Peters.

"We had an army of about 450 people show up and even though we didn’t fill all the gaps downtown, we’re hoping that will come in the next couple years," said Zaher.

"I didn’t anticipate the size of it, but it was a huge turnout. There were a lot of people involved, it was very good," said Marc Paris, of the Blue Door Soup Kitchen at The Samaritan Centre.

Organizers say this was about community, businesses rallying around businesses, and community rallying around the less-fortunate.

The donation was also very timely, as of right now, the soup kitchen is seeing an average of about 180 people coming through its doors each day.