Solmary Marrero Sierra, a nutritionist and psychologist known as "Doctora Sopa," runs a plant-based soup food truck called Doctora Sopa in Los Trailers de Bayamón, opened in late April 2025. She had been saving customer tips in a box without a specific purpose until she and her sister and husband decided to use the money to provide free lunches to cancer patients finishing chemotherapy treatment. She announced the initiative on social media on August 18, inviting patients to pick up a free soup after chemo.
That day, seven cancer patients came to collect meals, including a seven-year-old boy accompanied by his mother. The soups, prepared each morning, include plantain, lentil, sancocho, pumpkin, and pigeon pea varieties. Encouraged by the response, Marrero Sierra began recruiting other Puerto Rican businesses to join a "Network of Businesses with purposes that heal." The first to join was White House Cuisine in Corozal, whose owner cited losing her mother to lung cancer and having an aunt currently battling cancer as motivation to participate.
The network launched within about a week of the original announcement.