Staff report

WARREN — An evening of soup and salad just might spark some innovative Mahoning Valley projects.

This year’s Valley Soup event will take place Tuesday at Christ Episcopal Church, 2627 Atlantic St NE.

Valley Soup is a microfunding dinner inspired by both the original Detroit Soup and the former Warren Soup and Youngstown Soup events.

In conjunction with Giving Tuesday, a global day of giving the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley is putting on this event to spark and fund innovative projects that will benefit the Mahoning Valley.

The Community Foundation earlier announced these presenters: Buster’s Brigade Inc., Northeast Homeowners and Concerned Citizens Association, Time Bank Mahoning Watershed and YSUscape. Each will have four minutes to explain their project to the audience.

Valley Soup is open to the community; doors open at 5:30 p.m. with presentations beginning at 5:50 p.m. The event should conclude by 7:30 p.m.

Cost to attend is $5, and attendees get soup, salad, bread and one vote toward a project.

The project with the most votes receives all of the money collected at the door to help carry out its work.

Those who cannot attend the event but wish to donate, can do so at www.cfmv.org/donate and select Valley Soup from the dropdown menu. Additional information can be found at CFMV’s website, www.cfmv.org/soup.

“Last year’s first Valley Soup introduced so many community members to four smaller, but innovative nonprofits in our area,” said Shari Harrell, Community Foundation president. “We’re excited to expand on the success of that first year and engage residents in making some of these grant decisions again.”

The Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley is a leader and advocate for strategic philanthropy, partnering with donors to anchor a permanent and growing endowment and making investments in the Mahoning Valley that improve the quality of life for all residents.

The Community Foundation is the only local foundation with certification from the Community Foundation National Standards Board.

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