Ka pai, Carterton!
On Thursday evening my daughter, Isla, and I had the privilege of attending Ka Pai SOUP. Billed as a ‘social event that aims to make community initiatives and cool wee projects happen quickly in Carterton’, it turned into one of the most uplifting nights we’ve enjoyed for quite some time.
Ka pai to Ka Pai Carterton!
What is SOUP?
SOUP events are micro-granting dinners to celebrate and support creative projects in your community. In SOUP’s birthplace, Detroit, SOUP events have raised more than $100,000 since 2015, with all that money going directly to community projects. The concept is super simple:
Attendees pay $10
Between 4-6 groups, organisations, or individuals share the idea they’d like funding for with the audience
The audience votes (we were all given a Lego building block to vote with!)
Whichever presenter gets the most votes wins all the money collected at the door.
$10 gets you soup, salad, bread and a vote (source: https://detroitsoup.com/)
Thursday night’s SOUP took place in the Carterton Events Centre foyer and was organised by Ka Pai Carterton, a community-led development initiative formed from a two-year partnership between the Department of Internal Affairs and Resilient Carterton. The audience of about 60 folk were pitched five ideas. School band, Dragonfly, kicked off the night with a rousing Blondie track and a pitch for funds to start a regular gig guide for youth bands in Wairarapa. We also heard pitches to support the development of an EV shuttle service; a student-run cafe at Gladstone School; a youth-focused, place-based initiative from Rangatahi Tū Rangatira (R2R); and an 8-seater picnic table near the new angel wings in Carterton. It wasn’t easy, deciding which jar to drop my Lego block into! Dragonfly claimed the prize; a very impressive $1,300.
The immediacy of a SOUP event is exhilarating. In a little over two hours, I’d heard five great ideas, met new people, eaten three bowls of soup (thank you R2R, it was delicious!), and been part of a highly effective, super-fun, compassionate community brain-storming, networking event. It was even nutritious! Ideas were shared, advice given, resources offered, connections made, and projects kick-started.
SOUP’s accountability process is refreshingly simple - Dragonfly must return to the next SOUP and share their progress.
Isla and I can’t wait for the next instalment!
Because no public event is complete without a selfie!