Why Host Soup Night?

Connection. Community.

You want it. I want it. Even as a card carrying introvert, I desperately need relationships and connection.

I believe we all want to know our neighbors. We all want community, but many of us don’t really know how to get there.

How do we wind up in a situation where we actually know the people who live close to us?

It’s not perfect, and it’s definitely not fancy, but I think Neighborhood Soup Night is a great way to begin to cultivate a deeper sense of community in your own neighborhood.

We hosted our first Soup Night 15 years ago in our home in the San Francisco Bay Area. We hosted monthly Soup Nights until we moved from that house, and then started them again when we moved to Portland, Oregon nine years ago. The whole Soup Night thing has been off and one, with a big old break for the pandemic. It's a neighborhood gathering I keep coming back to. In both neighborhoods, strangers came to my house because I invited them- and we became friends. Crazy, huh? It’s like Field of Dreams. If you invite them, they will come eat soup.

I want to show you that you can do this. While it does take some planning and preparation, you’ve got this. You can absolutely do this. It does not need to be fancy. You don’t need to buy lots of stuff. You can use what you have and start where you are to begin to cultivate a deeper sense of community in your neighborhood. I hope you’ll keep reading and consider giving it a try.