The smells of hearty soups, lively discussions and upbeat music filled the atmosphere at the Davis Veterans Memorial Center for Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor’s latest Soup’s On event.
What started as a small political campaign event in 2004 at Saylor’s home gathered more than 400 guests at the Davis Veterans Center Thursday night for the 17th annual Soup’s On event, held this year in support of Davis Media Access (DMA).
“It all started with a simple idea: when someone is sick in the community, friends and neighbors step in and help by making soup to take home to feed their family,” Saylor explained. “If you kinda blow that up and apply that at the community level, that’s what we’re doing here.”
A few years after its inception, the benefit grew from this small gathering into a community charity event to raise awareness and funds for local nonprofits, with the first beneficiary being the conservation organization Tuleyome.
“We realized it was a lot more fun to do them when we had a nonprofit beneficiary,” Saylor said. “I didn’t realize what we had until I left that first non-profit event and someone approached me and was like ‘so who are you gonna do this the year next ?'”
“We’ve tried to focus on a variety of nonprofit causes to foster mental health care to food safety at Acme Theater Company,” Saylor continued. “The common thread running through all of these causes is that our donations from all of these people go directly to the association, no money comes back to me.”
Since 2004, Soup’s On has raised more than $350,000 for 13 worthy causes in Yolo County.
During Thursday’s event, guests savored a variety of soups from a rich clam chowder to a bright lemony chickpea served with hot rolls courtesy of Davis Upper Crust Baking while listening to live music. live music by Mumbo Gumbo and participating in a bountiful silent auction. The silent auction included a variety of prizes including handmade quilts and pillows, salsa dancing lessons, handcrafted sculptures, jewelry, a basket of local honey and wine tasting at Great Bear Vineyards.
Over $59,000 was raised to support DMA at the event. DMA is a grassroots, non-profit, community-based media and technology hub that strives to provide alternatives to commercial media for local voices and opinions.
Home to Davis Community Television, DJUSD.TV and community radio station KDRT 95.7 FM, DMA serves to build localism through the media. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the DMA became a key resource for public health updates and local voices, even when severely impacted by the pandemic itself.
“We are classified as an arts and culture organization and it’s been a tough road for arts and culture organizations during the pandemic,” said Autumn Labbe-Renault, chief executive officer of DMA. “We weren’t eligible for a lot of funding, we weren’t considered essential, but all of us in Yolo County tried to keep it going. So being recognized and supported right now is everything. I am deeply grateful.
Several elected officials were present at the event, including U.S. Congressman Mike Thompson, several of Saylor’s fellow supervisors, Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez and Elections Officer Jesse Salinas.
Saylor pointed out that the event would not be possible without donations from various local businesses, including Seasons Kitchen and Bar, Sudwerk Brewing Co., Buckhorn Steakhouse, Upper Crust Baking, Dos Coyotes, Turkovich Family Wines, Putah Creek Cafe, Savory Cafe and many others. . During his short speech at the event, Saylor also expressed his gratitude to his staff, all volunteers and everyone who had donated, emphasizing the importance of the entire “Soup’s On family”.
“My whole vision for this from the start was that we were going to pay for it,” Saylor said. “That we would care for the fabric of our community, that we would continue to weave and nurture the fabric of our shared community. That’s the whole point of Soup’s On.
