Here’s a pretty good example of someone turning lemons into lemonade. A college professor in NYC has taken what could have been a heartbreaking situation and transformed it into a heartwarming one, using the deposits for her canceled wedding reception and unprinted invitations to host a fundraiser for a local soup kitchen.

When her engagement fell apart earlier this year, her no-longer-fiance told her she could do as she pleased with the $3,500 deposit they’d paid to the restaurant for the reception and the $1,000 they’d given to a printer for the save-the-date notices.

So instead of just taking the cash and putting it in the bank, the professor opted to do some good by using it to host a $99/head fundraiser for the Greenpoint Reformed Church soup kitchen in Brooklyn.

“When the wedding was called off, I was heartbroken. We really thought it was going to work,” she told the NY Daily News. “And then I made peace with the idea. And then I found that it became exciting, the idea of doing something bigger… I’m really happy about it. I know that sounds odd, but it’s a better use of resources.”

Instead of save-the-date notices, the card money was spent on invites to community activists. The restaurant deposit remained at the same Brooklyn eatery that would have hosted the reception.

The menu for the fundraiser includes braised short ribs, savory crab cakes and Scottish salmon. The former bride-to-be hopes to raise $10,000 through the ticket sales and an auction.

If you live in the NYC area and feel like attending, it looks like a few tickets are still available at BrownPaperTickets.com

Queens College Prof. Robin Rogers turns canceled wedding into gala fund-raiser for soup kitchen [NY Daily News]

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