SPARK Holyoke Announces Crowd-funding Event to Be Held Oct. 26
HOLYOKE — SPARK Holyoke, a program of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce Centennial Foundation, announced its fourth community-based crowd-funding event, Holyoke Soup, scheduled to take place Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at Waterfront Tavern, 920 Main St., Holyoke.
Holyoke Soup is a dinner celebrating and supporting creative projects in Holyoke. For $5, attendees receive soup, salad, and bread while listening to presentations on business ideas, art, urban agriculture, social justice, social entrepreneurship, education, technology, and more. The food is prepared by culinary arts students from Dean Technical High School.
Several local entrepreneurs — all of whom have completed the SPARK entrepreneurship program — will also showcase their businesses beginning at 5 p.m. Each presenter has four minutes to share their idea and answer four questions from the audience. Attendees will then vote on the project that would be most beneficial to the city of Holyoke. At the end of the night, the ballots are counted, and the winner goes home with all the money raised to help fund their project. Winners come back to a future Holyoke Soup dinner to report their project’s progress. At the Oct. 26 event, the previous cash winner, Anna Rigali, from Holyoke High School, will share a brief report on how her winnings were used to further her project.
There is no admission charge to the event, but a minimum $5 donation is requested. All proceeds go to the presenter who receives the most votes. Anyone interested in presenting an idea at Holyoke Soup may apply at www.holyokesoup.com.
