A Ladle Goes a Long Way

by BZ ⒾAM Riger / Wednesday, 12 March 2014 / Published in Absolute Data

A Ladle Goes a Long Way

Originally published at Karma Tube

At Detroit SOUP, more than the broth is simmering—ideas are, too. Each month, creative thinkers, artists and neighbors gather to share project ideas over five-dollar bowls of soup & bread. As the meal winds down, the voting winds up, and winners go home with the soup-money, a micro-grant of sorts, to get their project going.

As a result, Detroit’s arts, parks, social justice, and urban farming scenes are thriving. Founder Amy Kaherl says her organization was often credited for funding these projects. “[But] we didn’t do anything,” she clarifies. “Except provide an opportunity for the dinners. It was the people in the community who felt it was safe to share their ideas with other people [that made this happen].”

WANT TO START YOUR OWN SOUP?

SOUP is a powerful tool to start conversations, practice democracy and fund new projects/people/ideas in our neighborhood, community or city. There are many models on how to do it and Detroit SOUP has been able to create its own unique model for the redevelopment, reorganization, re-imagining of our city.

For step-by-step information about starting a neighborhood-based SOUP, right-click and “save as” to download this document. Please feel free to reach out to Sarah Craft, the director of community partnerships, for more information at sarah@detroitsoup.com. This document is based off of our time working with resident leaders to start and sustain neighborhood SOUPs in Detroit.

Downloading this information is totally free and we would love to volunteer our time to talk to you about running SOUP. However, all donations are gratefully appreciated!

SOUP is also part of a larger SOUP movement going on across the country. If you’re not in the Detroit Metro area, check SundaySoup.org to see if there is a SOUP-like dinner near you.