It’s a brilliant yet simple concept: host a public soup dinner, charge $5, invite four organizations to pitch, and let the people decide which project should get funded. At the end of the night, every dollar collected at the door goes directly into the hands of one project. Democracy meets charity, served hot.
That’s Knoxville SOUP, a micro-granting dinner that’s been fueling grassroots ideas for 15 years. It’s one of over 200 SOUP organizations around the world. Janice Tocher, who chairs the Knoxville SOUP board, credits Debra Bradshaw and her daughter Kristina – they first experienced a SOUP dinner in Detroit, and when they moved to Knoxville they brought the idea with them.
The first dinner was held in March 2015 at Flenniken Landing, a supportive housing complex in South Knoxville. About 65 people attended, raising $412 for the rejuvenation of Mary Vestal Park and a greenway extension. That first event set the tone: small, well-defined projects that don’t require huge budgets can make a big impact.
Since then, the nonprofit has hosted 18 dinners, raising nearly $13,000 for local projects. Winners have improved parks and greenways, created outdoor education spaces, funded back-to-school drives, supported transitional housing for women, established community gardens, installed bus shelters, upgraded sports lighting, expanded adaptive recreation equipment, and more.
The Fall 2025 Dinner
This season’s dinner is set for Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Kerbela Temple in South Knoxville (315 Kerbela Ave.). Doors open at 5:30 p.m., presentations start at 6, dinner is at 7:15, and the winner will be announced at about 8. A suggested $5 donation gets you soup, salad and a vote.
SOUP has been hosted in various venues, mostly cycling between South Knoxville Community Center, Kerbela Temple and Dara’s Garden, with the most recent edition in 2023 held at Church Street United Methodist. Janice says SOUP would love to expand beyond South Knoxville – its beneficiaries can come from anywhere – that’s just where it got started and has grown a big volunteer base.
Previous SOUP dinners have drawn over 200 attendees and raised as much as $1,466 for winning presenters. “One of the things that we’ve noticed about the people that win Knoxville SOUP funds are people that have defined what it is that they need, and they don’t need a whole lot of money to get to where they want to go,” Janice explains.
An all-star lineup of food donors will keep the crowd well fed: South Senior High Living, Redbud Kitchen, South Coast Pizza, SoKno Sourdough, Three Rivers Market, Round Up Restaurant, Ham-n-Goody’s, Nauti K’s, Shoney’s, and Katie Sullivan. Raffle prizes range from restaurant gift cards to a one-hour sightseeing plane ride for two with Matthew Park. Longtime SOUP emcee Alan Williams (WBIR) is out of the country for this edition, but Knox County Commissioner Larson Jay has agreed to take the mic. An interpreter will be present for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
When I ask Janice about SOUP’s mission, she gets choked up. “We had 10 proposals for this dinner, which is the most we’ve ever had,” she says. “And I think it is people just wanting to get to something good for the community, to be able to give and receive. Knoxville SOUP is a way to make that happen.”
The Fall 2025 Projects
Four groups will present this time around, each tackling a different community challenge. The presentations are four-minutes long and spoken from the heart – no fancy slideshow presentations allowed! – with audience Q&As to follow.
- Cattywampus Puppet Council: 9th Annual Parade & Block Party
Knoxville’s most joyful spectacle is rolling toward year nine. But Cattywampus isn’t just about parade day—it’s months of after-school art residencies, youth internships and community workshops that culminate in a giant, handmade, all-ages celebration. SOUP funding would help cover materials and teaching artists so kids can build their own larger-than-life puppets and parade art.
- Bashun’s Bridge (Knox County Red Book of Resources)
Created by Cheryl Oakes Sutton, this project confronts one of Knoxville’s hardest truths: overdose deaths and the families left behind. Named for her son Bashun, who died after a long struggle with addiction, the initiative is about breaking stigma, offering grief support and creating spaces for remembrance and advocacy. Funding would support printed materials, comfort kits for grieving families, and interactive memorial events.
- Little Chefs, Big Change: After-School Healthy Cooking
These hands-on cooking classes bring kids into the kitchen to learn real skills—chopping, sautéing, seasoning and sharing meals together. Beyond fun recipes, the program builds confidence, nutrition literacy and a taste for healthy food. SOUP funding would help expand classes to more schools and more students in South Knoxville.
- Inside of Knoxville: “Urban Outposts” Series
(Yes, that’s us!) Attention is oxygen for small businesses, and it isn’t distributed evenly. “Urban Outposts” helps close the visibility gap by spotlighting unique neighborhood businesses outside the scope of our usual downtown coverage area, many of which never get media coverage and don’t have a marketing budget. SOUP support would help us take the series into more corners of the city.
Knoxville SOUP has been called a collaborative “situation,” a public dinner, a platform for connection, a relational hub, a forum for discussion. At its best, it’s all of that and more. It’s neighbors pulling chairs up to a table, listening to big ideas, and deciding together how to help. Learn more at the website here and FB event page here.
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