June 25, 2026 SOUP Dinner

We are excited to announce the projects that will present at our upcoming dinner! One of them will walk away with proceeds from the door. New for this dinner, every presenter will receive funding for their project. The proposal receiving the most votes will be awarded all proceeds collected at the door. The second-place project will receive $150, third place will receive $100, and fourth place will receive $50.

We hope you will come out and support these projects with your vote on Thursday, June 25th @ Kerbela Temple. Doors open @ 5:30. For a suggested donation of just $5, attendees enjoy a simple meal of soup, salad, and dessert—and receive a vote. Come hungry, leave inspired!

RYDE Community Glow Pop-Up Series: Bringing free dance, confidence-building, and creative wellness experiences directly into Knoxville neighborhoods so youth can move, connect, and glow with purpose.

Scruffy City Real Talk - Conversations that can Change Lives: Stripping away the stigma around mental health through QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer): an evidence-based, effective training that equips anyone with the skills to recognize warning signs and save a life.

Red Book Improvement: The Knox County Red Book of Resources helps Knox County residents find hope, help, and essential services by connecting them to hundreds of community resources through one trusted source.

Native Plant Rescue Squad Volunteer Program: Celebrating shovels, soil, salvage, stewardship, sharing, and strengthening community.

Learn more about the proposals....

About Knoxville SOUP

We are excited to announce our 1st 2026 dinner will be June 25th at The Kerbela Temple in South Knoxville!

Doors open at 5:30 PM and presentations start at 6:00. Mark your calendars and come hear about projects in our community. $5 (suggested donation) gets you Soup, Salad, and a VOTE!

Kerbela Temple is located at 315 Kerbela Ave [ map ].

Do you want to support this project with your time? We need volunteers! Sign Up.

Do you want to promote your business? We are looking for raffle items and food dontions. Send us an email for more information.

Knoxville SOUP is a community micro-granting dinner that brings people together to support local projects making a difference. For a $5 donation, guests get soup, bread, and a vote to help fund creative ideas that benefit Knoxville. At the end of the night, every dollar collected at the door goes directly to the project with the most votes—turning a simple meal into real community change.

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 5:30 pm, collecting a $5.00 donation from attendees. At 6:00, 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…

Proposals can be for anything that will benefit the community or society in general. Past winning projects have improved greenways and nature trails, provided exercise equipment for seniors, funded back to school drives, supported other charitable endeavors and even launched a small business with a social focus. There are no hard and fast rules to what a proposal should be, only that someone envisions it, asks for it and the diners vote for it.

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.

After presentations, diners will have about an hour to eat, share and connect with others while voting for the project they like best. By about 7:45, 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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