SPOKANE – A bowl of soup can feed a child’s soul during October.

The Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital launched its annual fundraiser, Soup for the Soul, on Wednesday in support of the hospital’s Arts in Healing program. The program gives children patients a creative outlet through visual art, creative writing, music and dance.

The fundraiser is held every Wednesday during October. Some restaurants offer the benefit soup sale every day.

Soup for the Soul will be available at the Barrel Steak & Seafood House, Fieldhouse Pizza & Pub, the High Nooner, Cafe Fresca at Holy Family Hospital, the Little Garden Cafe, Morty’s Tap & Grille, Picabu Bistro, the Cafe Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, Screaming Yak, Selkirk Pizza & Tap House, Something Else Deli, Steelhead Bar and Grille and Waterfall Café at St. Luke’s.

The restaurants pledge a part of their Wednesday soup sales or donate at least $200. The fundraiser has raised more than $30,000 in the past eight years. Last year it raised $6,000. Arts in Healing serves about 800 children and their siblings every year.

Ceramic bowls decorated by children in Arts in Healing will be sold in the Sacred Heart Medical Center Gift Shop.

“Being creative is a proven way for kids to express and communicate the difficult emotions that go along with illness and hospitalization,” said Anne Walker, program coordinator. “Parents have said the first time they have seen their child smile while in the hospital is when they are getting creative.”