The Hand that Rocks the Ladle: Sunday Soup
The concept is so simple it's brilliant. Someone makes a soup, or soups, from scratch, and anyone is invited to consume that soup for a small fee of $5. A panel of individuals who are doing, or trying to do, innovative, progressive things in our community come and present a proposal. It could be for anything. A community member acts as emcee to facilitate the presentations, and when they are finished, each satiated soup-eater casts a vote for the project he or she thought was the best. The money collected from the diners is awarded, the same day, to the winner of the ballot.
Call it a mini-grant, call it a fundraiser, or call it what you will -- but this is a situation where everyone wins, not just the organization that leaves with the cash.
