For $5, you get soup, salad, bread and a vote.
Detroit Soup is a community initiative that celebrates and supports creative projects in Detroit. Founded in 2010 in Detroit’s Mexican town, Soup has been the platform for increased collaboration and for critical discussions. The ideas presented can range from art, urban agriculture, social justice, social entrepreneurs, education, technology and much more. Each presenter has four minutes to share their idea and answer four questions from the audience. At the event, attendees eat, talk, share resources, enjoy art and vote on the project they think benefits the city the most. At the end of the night, ballots are counted and the winner goes home with all of the money raised to carry out their project. Winners are expected to come back to a future SOUP dinner to report on their project’s progress. Organized by the Neighborhood Services Organization and held in Highland Park, I participated in my first ever Soup event last month.
The beauty of this community dinner is that it gives people the opportunity and confidence to turn their little ideas into big visions and realities. People were fired up about their projects. Community members showed a great amount of care either as passionate presenters or as attentive listeners. It was empowering to see the amount of creativity in the neighborhood; projects ranged from a rooftop garden to a cafe catered to mothers and much more. Being able to engage everyone in the community and to come together as a whole is a great way to raise neighborhood pride and morale.
Detroit Soup allows people to come together and to talk to gather; it doesn’t require much, but it does require very little from a lot of people. Small projects can make big changes.
I get to hear a lot about Detroit Soup because Jackson Koppel works closely with my program director. The whole experience sounds really cool and I’m glad that it’s held in Highland Park, the community I work in.