2254 S Dye Rd
Flint
MI 48532
Flint SOUP is hosting an Alumni SOUP event this Friday, December 21st. We would love for you all to join! We will be sending out 5 presenter overviews in the next few days. Feel free to pass this along to your networks. As always, RSVP at the Facebook link below or respond to this email.
Flint SOUP is a monthly dinner supporting startups and creative projects in the Flint community. For more information, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/flintsoup.
$5 for soup, salad, bread, and a vote!
Flint SOUP Presenter #1
Mr. Roy Fields Sr. introduced himself to us at an Edible Flint meeting where he shared is desire to start a self sustaining community garden in North Flint. He pitched during our first SOUP event of 2017 and we connected him to Genesee County Habitat for Humanity and their Flint BRAND community grant program. They awarded him funding to place an irrigation well for the garden.
Roy acquired a hoop house through a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant and began selling veggies at local markets. Roy has a passion for the youth of his community and wants to train them in life skills as well as teach them the importance of urban farming.
Since pitching at Flint SOUP, Roy and his community garden have gained the attention of the Ruth Mott Foundation who would like to partner with him and build a training center by the garden property that will serve the youth of the neighborhood.
Flint SOUP Presenter #2
Karl Collyer is a Master Gardner and advocate for locally grown produce through urban gardening. He presented in 2017 and pitched his idea for Happy Little Greens Farm (Flint’s first vertical farm.) Karl began to grow micro-greens through his innovative vertical farming method and sold in local restaurants and markets.
Since pitching at Flint SOUP, Karl won funding during the 2017 I-69 Catapult Thumb Region Small Business Pitch Competition and won the Michigan Good Food Fund-Flint Boot Camp Pitch Competition. He also created a program for East Flint residents to learn how to generate revenue through urban gardening called One Lot Farms.
Karl has most recently headed up the Broadway Boulevard/Franklin Ave Corridor. A grassroots organization building resident action by neighborhood design. The goal is to implement projects that create a visible, positive, and lasting change in the physical landscape of the Flint community.
Flint SOUP Presenter #3
Bethany took an old family recipe for non-alcoholic ginger beer and began a startup. Formulated in 2015, “Pop’s Ginger Beer” has gone through a few necessary changes. It’s quickly becoming popular among a growing mass of people seeking alternatives to alcohol based drinks.
She pitched and won Flint SOUP micro-grant funding in 2017 and has since created a product logo and processed the trademark for the ginger beer name. Bethany also located a co-packer in Detroit to bottle her product. She is looking to secure additional funds to produce her press of “Pop’s Ginger Beer” and differentiate it from others on the market.
Flint SOUP Presenter #4
Keishaun Wade, a sophomore at Flint Southwestern Academy, and three of his friends, presented an idea for a socially conscious lawn mowing service called “Supreme Lawn Care” in the summer of 2017. They began securing contracts for their business after their Flint SOUP micro-grant win. It didn’t take long for Keishaun to realize that his lawn care business was not his passion.
Instead of shutting down the company, he returned to Flint SOUP and shared his passion for urban development. Flint SOUP introduced him to The University Avenue Corridor Coalition and he began attending meetings on incremental development to learn more about citywide planning.
From there, he joined other Flint SOUP entrepreneurs for a “Startup School” hosted by Blue Water Startups & Entrepreneurs in Port Huron, MI. There he met Paul Singh, Founder at Results Junkies, past founder of Disruption Corp (acquired by 1776) and former partner at 500 Startups. Paul took the time to speak with Keishaun about urban infrastructure and economic development.
Keishaun has since become an enthusiastic participant in his school’s Link Leaders program as well the MASC/MAHS student leadership camp and InspireED. He was elected President of Student Government this year and advocated for overdue policy changes in his school. Keishaun was recognized by Yale University for his work in community development and honored with the Yale Bassett Award for Community Engagement this past September. He was one of fifteen that was selected, from a pool of 970 high school juniors across the county and all military bases. We couldn’t be more proud of his achievements!
Flint SOUP Presenter #5
Kala is a fashion designer from Flint, MI. She has been featured in Good Housekeeping Magazine and is the owner of Fannie Lucille fashion line. She decided to use her experience as a designer in New York to help other fashion innovators realize opportunities in the Flint community. She founded the Fashion Agains Violence moment seven years ago, in honor of her brother, Antonio Anthony, who lost his life due to gun violence in Flint. She established Fashion Against Violence to provide workshops for artists like Antonio who desire to share their gifts with the world but don’t know where to start.
Kala hosts Vehicle City Fashion Week, (VCFW). A week-long fashion event that ends with an annual runway show featuring Michigan artists, designers and local talent. Over the years, VCFW has showcased over fifty Michigan designers, retail stores and boutiques. The yearly event has seen over 2,500 people in attendance. Kala also uses Vehicle City Fashion Week to introduce the Flint community to celebrity stylists like, Goo Goo Atkins and Epperson Rod. Even designers from London, England have presented their collections to the Flint community through VCFW. Kala hopes to use Vehicle City Fashion Week to empower individuals in the fashion industry to continue developing a much needed platform of support for those affected by violence.