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# Bean-A-Fit Dishes Out Almost Four Decades of Philanthropy
- URL: https://ktna.org/bean-a-fit/
- Published: 2026-10-15T20:13:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-15T22:00:41.000Z
- Author: Colleen Coulon Love
- Tags: News, Local News

The Talkeetna Bean-A-Fit Crew has been dishing out soup at a community meal for almost 40 years. KTNA’s Colleen Love spoke with one of the founders of the annual event, and to those who continue to host the local fundraiser for Beans Cafe every fall.

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Renamary Rauchenstein still remembers how she got involved in raising money for Beans Cafe in Anchorage. 

***“It started with our church. Some of the people that we knew in town had moved into Anchorage, some of the younger people, and were kinda having trouble now that winter was coming, making ends meet and one of the things was they couldn’t buy enough food.”*** 

She had heard of Beans’ Cafe in Anchorage and how they offered food to anyone who needed a meal. The church wondered if they could do a soup fundraiser to help the organization continue that mission.

***“We called them and they said, “We’d love it if you did a Bean-a-fit up there.” And so we began. And it became a community-wide thing.”***

At the time, Rauchenstein and her husband Vern, owned the Swiss Alaska Inn and they offered to host it there. Members of the community made large pots of soups and a variety of breads. Local children served food, bussed tables and washed dishes. The Bean-A-Fit made a couple hundred dollars that first year which the organizers hand-delivered to Beans Cafe.

***“So it was a way for this community to reach out to a whole other community, to Anchorage. Not only for kids that we knew that might need it, or people, but also to just spread the atmosphere of this town. To give, to help, to be charitable. It was a program that everybody understood. Hunger… you understand that. You’ve been hungry yourself.”***

Rauchenstein said Beans Cafe told them the soup recipes that they served at the Bean-A-Fit were up to them… but there was one stipulation. 

 ***“They always said, soup and bread. But the soup should have a bean in it… at least one bean.”***  

That’s Rauchenstein’s daughter, Romi Byrd, chiming in. As a young girl, Byrd served soup and washed dishes at the Bean-A-Fit. She and her husband Chris purchased the Swiss Alaska a number of years ago. The Byrds continue to host the Bean-A-Fit at the establishment, and 100% of the proceeds still goes to Beans Cafe.

***“We’ve discussed in the past, you know, maybe the money that we bring in for the Bean-A-Fit should go to other places, and the thought is, if there are other places that need money, then lets do more fundraisers, not take away a good fundraiser that’s working pretty well and that people are aware of and count on because there’s more, there should be more opportunities to give.”***

The Bean-A-Fit is a free meal for anyone who walks in the door. A donation jar sits off to the side. The event was held even during the pandemic, taking orders over the phone and providing soups to-go. 

It’s been almost 40 years since that first bowl of soup was served. This year, the Talkeetna Bean-A-Fit earned around $2,500 in a period of only three hours. In addition to the financial success, Byrd says it’s interesting to see the variety of soups that come into the kitchen each year.

***“We have excellent cooks in this town. Some of the bean soups that we’ve had are so good. Every year I’m like, oooh Suzy Kellard’s bringing her soup.”***

Byrd has also contributed some of her own soups. She leans towards vegetarian options, to serve to a wider group of people. She says that one year she whipped up a tomato soup and added that to the menu. It was a rich tomato soup…with just one bean. In Talkeetna, I’m Colleen Love