Rick Kyte

SOUP Advisor

What do you do?
I’m the Director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
It is a great way to build social capital by bringing together creative people who want to make our community a better place to live. 

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
The Municipal Boat Harbor

Josh Court

Director

What do you do?
I am a Practice Operations Director in the Behavioral Health Department at Mayo Clinic Health System – Franciscan Healthcare. 

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
Like many others, I fell in love with SOUP after attending my first event.  The concept is so amazing and so simple – bring people together and support local projects.  I am committed to continue this work and hope it will make La Crosse better.

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
There is a trail at the end of Rim of the City Road which takes you to the best overlook in the area.  My family loves to take that hike and bring visitors to see the beauty of the area.

Keachen Abing

What do you do?
I am a teacher in the School District of La Crosse at 7 Rivers Community High School.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
I LOVE the idea of a grassroots organization empowering a diverse group of local citizens to make significant positive changes in our community. SOUP gives residents a platform to share their amazing ideas, to gain some financial support to make them a reality, to build a coalition to help put it into practice, and an opportunity to remove any barriers that might otherwise discourage people from taking action.

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
I absolutely LOVE Upper and Lower Hixon Forest. After school, and on the weekends, my family and I will be there trail running and mountain biking. These trails are such a blessing for our community!

Laquita Becker

What do you do?
I am the Youth and Family Service Director at the Boys and Girls Club. I address the behavioral and mental health needs of youth members.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
I was a contestant at the first SOUP event that I attended. I won with the pitch that I presented that would help serve a group of high school students attending the Boys and Girls Club. I loved the atmosphere of collaboration that the SOUP event provided.  I think it is important to come together as a community and support local and creative ideas.

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
Riverside Park offers beautiful scenery of the Mississippi River. I enjoy spending time walking around or relaxing by the river.  

Chuck Berendes

What do you do?
I am an attorney and the General Manager at Gerrard Hoeschler Realtors.  I am also very involved in the Cub Scouts and Shelter Development, a local non-profit focused on housing issues in our community.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
I had a little involvement in SOUP in the past…it is a really cool concept, but it is the people involved in the project really drew me to SOUP.  I’m sure cool things are going to happen! 

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
Either on a bluff top watching the action of the city pass by below or at the Oktoberfest grounds on the morning before the Maple Leaf Parade (it beats being at work by a long shot!).

Kerstin Boudreau

What do you do?
I am co-owner of Metre, an advertising agency in downtown La Crosse, and also active in the community as a board member of the Chamber, UFAH, and the Rotary Brain Game.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
I have seen crowdfunding and micro-giving efforts work. I think that the new Soup board of directors is going to ensure that these efforts really thrive in La Crosse!

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
I love to go for a sunset run or walk across the Cass Street bridge, into La Crosse, and to take in the sights of the river and our awesome city. Makes me reflect on our community and my role in it.

Jeremiah Galvan

What do you do?
I am the clinical manager of the Critical Care unit at Gundersen Health System. I also volunteer for community events, at the La Crosse Community Theater, on a PTO board, and on the board of the local chapter of the International Honor Society of Nursing.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
I wholeheartedly believe in the power of people and the ideas that lie within their hearts and minds. Even more inspiring is when people come together to support those ideas and encourage each other in their pursuit of creating something for the common good. Institutions like SOUP provide the space and opportunity for this to happen with the sole focus of making the community better. So, it just makes sense that this is something I would want to be a part of.

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
Pretty much right near the heart of our city sits my favorite spot… My front porch. I truly love just sitting there and experiencing the best of La Crosse. Usually sitting there with my wife, we see the past, present, and future of our city converging on each other. There is history and hope. There is life and laughter. There are friends and family. There is relationship and community. And maybe best of all, there is Ranison’s 🙂

Andrew Hughes

What do you do?
I am the Senior Project Manager at Interact Communications, singer-songwriter from TUGG, head of the Guitar Academy at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse, and a Raise the Roof Habitat for Humanity Concert Chair Committee Member.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
My involvement from SOUP comes directly from the special and connected movement in the La Crosse area. There are many community-minded people that are talking and meeting about making La Crosse even more amazing than it already is. It seems on some level or another we are all connected, and that is how/why I was asked to join SOUP!

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
There’s a bluff trail off of one of the lessor known paths as you drive past granddad’s bluff on the way towards Shelby. You can walk out to a spot and see the entire city and then some. My wife Becky and I have been going out there since we met, and it’s where I surprised her with a proposal 14 years ago!

Jill Miller

What do you do?
I am a Pioneering Healthier Communities Coordinator at the La Crosse Area Family YMCA.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
SOUP is fun and encompasses all the things I love the most – people, community building and food!  

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
My home brings me so much comfort. However, other favorite places include: the Community Food Forest at the Y; and, downtown La Crosse, especially by the river.

Maria Norberg

What do you do?
I own Grounded Specialty Coffee and the Apothik Food Truck.

Why did you get involved in La Crosse SOUP?
I grew up in a very small town and I learned at a young age that it takes everyone working together to have a thriving community. I love La Crosse and I love the idea of the community coming together for the sole purpose of making La Crosse a better place for everyone. 

What is your favorite place in La Crosse?
The hiking trails off of Easter Road.