Last Monday more than 400 people turned out to enjoy each others company, eat some great soup and lend their support to Empty Bowls. Ada Igoe was kept busy serving deserts during the event which also featured a silent auction. More than $17,000 came in during the day.
Brian Larsen
St. John’s Catholic Church’s basement was a bee-hive of activity on Monday, November 13 as more than 400 people came to enjoy the 2017 Empty Bowls event that was held for two hours over lunch (12-2 p.m.) and two hours over supper (5-7 p.m.).
Fourteen area restaurants donated soup, and four made donations of bread loaves.
The Grand Marais Art Colony provided 280 ceramic bowls that were created either by volunteers or by local artisans. There are still some bowls that can be purchased from the Grand Marais Art Colony, said one of the event coordinators, Beth Kennedy.
Proceeds from the meal and sales of brightly colored handcrafted ceramic bowls; beads, baked goods as well as items sold at silent auction generated $7,100. A big plus this year was that 40 table sponsors donated $250 each to raise another $10,000, Kennedy said, which brings the total to $17,100.
There were 86 volunteers who helped with empty bowls. They set up tables, served the meal, stirred the soup, ran the silent auction and cleaned up afterward. And most of them had a big smile on their face!
The Silent Auction was down a bit this year, added Kennedy, but the funds raised will once again be kept separate and be used to pay for advertising for next years event, as well as to pay the cost of clay and kiln time at the Grand Marais Art Colony. The Art Colony doesn’t make money from us, but we pay them for their expenses,” she said.
There was some nervousness in changing the traditional Empty Bowls date from the second Thursday in November to the following Monday. That was done because for the last three straight years the CCHS girl’s volleyball team has made it to the state tournament, and half of the community is down in the Twin Cities cheering for the team. The date will change again next year, but it will be held sometime in the third week of November, Kennedy said.
Pat Campanaro, another chief organizer, said there were 86 volunteers who helped set up, serve, and clean-up for this year’s event.
Money raised from Empty Bowls stays in the community but goes to several sources.
One-half of the funds will be donated to the Cook County Food Shelf, and the other half is used for “gap funding,” said Kennedy.
What is gap funding? “It meets the needs that are left when other sources of funds aren’t available,” Kennedy said.
“Last year we gave $40 to all of the elementary school teachers in the four elementary schools in the county. Instead of using their money to buy snacks when kids forget to bring them, they have these funds to use.
“The school Snack Pack program also received funding as well as the Violence Protection Center and the Good Samaritan Fund through Social Services. We are also told that sometimes kids who play sports don’t have meal money. Coaches are encouraged to sign up for these funds.
“Organizations or individuals need to apply to us to be eligible to receive money from the gap fund,” said Kennedy. “The process is simple, however. We only ask for the name of the organization, a contact person and one paragraph about how they will use the money. There is no red tape with this program.”
If you would like to learn more about the Gap Fund, please call Beth Kennedy at 218-387-1314 or email her at b.kennedy@boreal.org.
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