Innovation & Job News

Crowdsourcing SOUP event now serves Dearborn

Thursday, March 31, 2011

The crowd in crowdsource funding is growing in Metro Detroit. Dearborn SOUP plans to hold its second gathering next week as a way to help provide significant funding for emerging projects from small donations.

Dearborn SOUP is a spin-off of the popular Detroit SOUP. The monthly event features a community soup meal where those attending make a small donation. That money (usually a few hundred dollars) is given to the favorite project presented to those in attendance. The projects can be either non-profit or for-profit ventures.

"I absolutely fell in love with the concept," says Dee Hamka, the organizer of Dearborn SOUP and an employee of the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority. "It's absolutely perfect for Dearborn."

The first event, held in March, awarded $650 to D-Yes, a program of WARM Training Center, that empowers and trains high school students and adult AmeriCorps crew leaders to promote energy conservation and perform basic home energy retrofits.

The next Dearborn SOUP will be held between 5-8 p.m. Sunday, April 3, at the Fairlane Ford Showroom, 14510 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn's east downtown. Organizers will move the cars out of the showroom to make room for the 200-plus people expected to attend. Children are also welcome. For information, call Hamka at (313) 801-4444.

Source: Dee Hamka, the organizer of Dearborn SOUP
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

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Crowdsourcing SOUP event now serves Dearborn

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