This story was originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal

Rooster Soup Co., a joint venture between Federal Donuts and Broad Street Ministry, reached its fundraising goal of $150,000 this week.

With only four days left in the funding period, Rooster Soup Co. is boasting more than 1,300 backers, $158,464 in pledged funds and Philadelphia Mayor Nutter vouching on its behalf. Now the company is stretching its goal to $200,000.

It plans to use the unused chicken parts from Federal Donuts to create soup stock for at least one new retail restaurant. Rooster Soup Co. then plans to donate 100 percent of its profits, after operating costs, to The Broad Street Ministry’s Hospitality Collaborative.

Last week the business released a teaser menu with some proposed flavors. It included tantalizing options such as “Pastramen” and Chicken Noodle Pho.

“It’s important to get people excited about the concept by showing them what they could be eating if they make the Kickstarter successful,” said Felicia D’Ambrosio, co-founder of Federal Donuts and director of communications for CookNSolo.

“One of the coolest things about crowdfunding websites, like Kickstarter, is that there is a built-in proof of concept — especially when your goal is large enough. If people aren’t into it, they’re not going to back you,” D’Amborsio said.

Steve Cook, co-founder of Federal Donuts said that going from the idea phase to execution is helping the team learn new lessons.

“The original thought was, let’s make great soup out of this [extra chicken] and places like Broad Street Ministry would be more than happy to open their back door and see five-gallon buckets of chicken soup piled outside … which we learned very quickly was a very naive idea,” said Cook.

Even though the co-owners of Federal Donuts hoped to do something with the excess of chicken that typically wound up in landfills, they realized food donations could create more negative effects than positive.

“One of the first things I remember Bill Golderer (founder of Broad Street Ministry) told me was, ‘You wouldn’t believe how many people drop off trash bags filled with ripped t-shirts, underwear, and socks with holes in them and think they’re doing something great. The reality is, they can’t use those so it becomes extra work to get rid of,” Cook said.

Continue reading on the Philadelphia Business Journal

Check out Generocity.org’s story about Rooster Soup Company here. 

Photo via Philadelphia Business Journal