Presenters Selected for April 11th Visalia SOUP event

The Visalia Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the four individuals/organizations that will be presenting their ideas at Visalia SOUP on April 11th at ImagineU Interactive Children’s Museum. Presenters were selected from nine proposals that were submitted. The following proposals will be pitched to SOUP attendees in hopes of gaining community support, resources and funding.

Elys is a legacy management platform where first responders, military, and other individuals can leave a final message to their loved ones which will be delivered posthumously. These messages will help to heal loved ones left behind. After tragic events like terrorist attacks, and mass shootings, it is necessary to leave our loved ones with a message of love. Messages can be sent well in advance for future marriages, anniversaries and holidays with designated dates chosen by the sender.

Formal Attire Ready (F.A.R.) is designed to help provide foster youth an opportunity to be dressed appropriately for important events in their lives. The events include major school dances like winter formal or prom, graduation and possibly interviews. The F.A.R. program would provide foster youth with dresses, suits, slacks, ties, shoes, shirts and any other formal attire necessary for the youth to attend an event. The idea is that with assistance from the F.A.R. project, the foster youth will have a higher rate of participation in these events, allowing them to go further in life.

Happy Rooms is a non-profit that creates special spaces for children and families in homes through hands-on implementation of four core values: organization, repurpose, donation, and community partnerships. Many people, especially kids, don’t have an inspired space at home where they can work on home work, art projects, etc. Getting a room organized and filled with resources that encourage creativity will help young kids to not only be organized and inspired at home, but those skills will translate at school and in their social lives. Their vision is that creating these special spaces in a home will lift spirits and encourage creativity.

The Visalia Friendship House (VFH) was built by members of the community seventy years ago whose mission it is to provide Girl Scouts a permanent home. The current Girl Scout enrollment is about four hundred girls in Visalia. The VFH provides troop leaders a location to hold troop meetings, train adult leaders, and provide a location for Girl Scout Council events. The exterior roof of the Friendship House was replaced in 2017. This project took two years of fundraising to complete. The leaking roof caused interior damage to the suspended ceiling panels. The VFH Board has removed from the old interior ceiling and a bid of $4000 has been accepted to install the suspended ceiling and replace interior lighting and ceiling fans. VFH needs to raise funds for this capital improvement project.

Visalia SOUP presented by Tucoemas Federal Credit Union is a simple idea. A minimum donation of $5 gets you entry into the event, soup, bread and a vote. You will hear from four presenters, who have four minutes to describe their idea to the group (no technology allowed), and will answer four questions from the audience. Each idea has been vetted by a committee who selects presentations based on the positive impact the proposal will have on Visalia.

At the event, attendees eat, talk, share resources, enjoy music and vote on the project they think is most deserving. At the end of the night, ballots are counted and the winner goes home with the pot of money.  Winners of Visalia SOUP can use the money raised to support their project, additionally they gain valuable business contacts and resources from those in attendance.

Attend this feel-good event and hear some great ideas about ways people are working to improve our community! Doors open at 5:00 PM and the presentations begin at 5:30 PM. Reservations for Visalia SOUP are currently available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/visalia-soup-tickets-43176340597

Visalia SOUP will be held on April 11, 2018 at ImagineU Interactive Children’s Museum located at 210 N. Tipton St. Reserve your seat today at: http://www.visaliachamber.org/soup/ or call the Visalia Chamber of Commerce at 559-734-5876. A $5.00 donation at the door is requested to help support the winner of the event.

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