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St John’s Catholic Church was filled with happy, hungry people last Thursday, November 17 as a large crowd came to eat a simple but delicious lunch or supper of donated soups, breads, and desserts as part of the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser held to fight community hunger.
Proceeds from the meal, sale of deserts and handcrafted bowls made by artists through the Grand Marais Art Colony raised $5,385.
When the evening was done the total donations reached $42,444.97, said one of the event organizers, Beth Kennedy. “That’s down $20,000 from last year,” noted Kennedy who added that donations will be accepted until December 31.
Once collected, fifty percent of the donations are given to the Cook County Food Shelf while the remaining fifty percent are divided among other non-profit organizations. In 2022 there were 23 non-profits who benefited from donations through Empty Bowls.
This year’s volunteer organizers were Pat Campanaro, Judi Barsness, Donna Lunke, Beth Kennedy,
Empty Bowls Cook County is a 501c3 nonprofit working to fight food insecurity in Cook County. Created by the Render Group, Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger.
Partnering with the Empty Bowls is the Grand Marais Art Colony and St. John’s Catholic Church.
In 2022 the overall food insecurity rate in the United States was 11.8 percent, and it’s a number that has been used for Cook County. That said, with residents struggling with food insecurity, the Empty Bowls fundraiser is more important than ever.
If you would like to donate to stop hunger in the county, make a check out to Empty Bowls Cook County P.O. Box 294, Grand Marais, MN. 55604 before December 31, 2022.
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