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Part One: Detroit

The story of Detroit Soup: a grassroots crowd-funding project which has raised more than 85,000 dollars for community projects in Motor City.

Once the engine of America, Detroit has fallen on hard-times. The decline of the auto industry hit the city hard, and in 2013 Motor City finally went bankrupt. Detroit Soup is community project breathing life back into the city with its monthly dinners. It's a simple concept: members of the community pay five dollars at the door, and for that they get soup, salad, bread - and a vote. Social entrepreneurs present their ideas, and whoever has the most votes at the end of the evening walks away with the money raised, and a chance to put their idea into action. Since it began in 2010, Detroit Soup has raised over 85,000 dollars which has been used to kick-start a broad range of initiatives in areas such as urban farming, art and theatre, literacy and learning, and blight clearance. It has also helped launch small businesses with a social mission - such as The Empowerment Plan and Rebel Nell, which today employ people recruited directly from homeless shelters. The ±«Óãtv meets the project�s founder, Amy Kaherl, and some of the urban pioneers who have put the money raised to good use, rebuilding their city a dollar and a vote at a time.

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 19 Mar 2015 02:30GMT

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Detroit Soup

Detroit Soup
Amy Kaherl is the founder of  a crowd-funding dinner which has raised more than $85,000 for community projects since it started in 2010.

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How Did Soup Change Detroit?

Find out how Detroit Soup has changed lives in Motor City