October 23rd 2018 SOUP Dinner

Congratulations to East Tennessee Permaculture Research Institute who won the people's vote for our October 2018 SOUP dinner and walked away with $765!

Our next dinner will be in April 2019. Check back for details!

Read more about this project and learn about other proposals presented.

Thanks to our Oct 23rd SOUP Sponsors and Volunteers

A huge THANKS to all our sponsors and those who contributed to help make our SOUP dinners a success. Please help us thank our supporters with YOUR support of their business!

A special thanks and call-out to Borderland Tees who stores our supplies and picks up/delivers them for each dinner! Borderland Tees continues to do great work for our community!

Raffle Items

  • Averra Media
  • Bobby Kelly/Patrick Michael
  • Bobbye Edwards
  • Borderland Tees
  • Candoro Arts & Heritage
  • Carson Dailey
  • DrinkKnox
  • Fagan Jewelers
  • H&R Block
  • It's a R-R-Ruff Life
  • The Herald/Joe Karl
  • Love that BBQ
  • Loveday's Garden Center
  • Lowe's of South Knoxville
  • Magpies Bakery
  • Navitat Knoxville, TN
  • Next Step Initiative
  • Nick Pavlis
  • Open Reins Counseling
  • Pancho's Mexian Grill
  • Round Up Restaurant
  • Smoky Mountain Wine and Spirits
  • Southern Breeze Heating & Cooling
  • Stanley's Greenhouse
  • Stephanie Whelch
  • Tennessee State Bank
  • The Eye Group
  • Weichert Realtors Advantage Plus/Barbara Finchum

Food

  • Averra Media
  • Drink Knox
  • Gayle Atherton
  • Kara Strouse
  • Kristen Fritts
  • Mike and Jan Brown
  • Round Up Restaurant
  • Ruby Tuesday
  • SoKno Taco
  • Susan Martin
  • Sweet P's
  • Village Bakery
  • Wee Care Shoppe
  • Ye Olde Steakhouse

Volunteers

  • Adam Fritts
  • Amy Albers
  • Andy Zimmerman
  • Ashleigh Bennett
  • Ben DiFilippo
  • Betsy Pickle
  • Bob Riehl
  • Cleveland Hilton
  • Danny Gray
  • Debbie Al-Aseer
  • Gayla Guinard
  • Gayle Atherton
  • Hannah Freeman
  • Jackie Eul
  • Janice Tocher
  • Janine Al-Aseer
  • Joe Touchton
  • Julie Elfin
  • Kara Strouse
  • Lauren Bennett
  • Mary Touchton
  • Mike Brown
  • Nancy Campbell
  • Nicole Fernandez
  • Nora Jacobs
  • Rebecca Husain

About Knoxville SOUP!

Our next SOUP dinner will be in April 2019. Check back for date and location.

Do you have a project that needs funding? Submit a proposal! It will be considered for our next dinner.

SOUP is a community dinner that is part pot luck and part planned. It is an opportunity for the community to gather, share and connect. It is an opportunity to support projects that, in some manner, benefit the community as a whole. It’s where Democracy meets Charity.

SOUP has been described as:

  • a collaborative situation
  • a public dinner
  • a platform for connection
  • a relational hub bringing together communities
  • a forum for discussion
  • an opportunity to support creative people in pursuit of the betterment of their community

Get inspired! Watch a 2 minute video of a SOUP dinner in progress.


Like the Knoxville SOUP Facebook Page to keep up with the latest information about SOUP dinners.


How it works: We will open the doors at 6:00 pm, collecting a $5.00 donation from attendees. At 6:30, 4 preselected individuals or groups will present an idea or project they would like to carry out. Each presenter (or group) has 4 minutes to inform, impassion and inspire the audience. They then have 4 minutes to answer questions from the audience. Dinner is then served while attendees digest, discuss and deliberate over the projects presented. They then cast a ballot for the project they would like most to fund.

When the evening nears a close, the ballots are counted and the group that has the most votes takes home the money from the door to help fund their project. Democracy meets Charity…

The possibilities of what can be accomplished are limited only by what the community envisions, asks for and earns votes for. Many cities have similar projects that after becoming established, average well over $1000 per dinner in micro-grant funding.

Winners are asked to return to a subsequent dinner and share with us the success of their project. Dinners will also feature an artist each month.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with proposals presented at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner. Diners will have about an hour to eat, share and connect with others while voting for the project they like best. By about 8:15, the votes will be tallied and the winning project will be awarded all donations raised at the door. NOTE: a suggested donation of $5 will be collected at the door. All money raised at the door goes to the winning proposal.

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