Right: Ada Igoe and her mother Mary Igoe were just two of many volunteers at the Empty Bowls fundraiser held last Thursday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais. Almost 400 people attended the event. Above: Three of the main organizers for Empty Bowls who were working long after the crowd had left were, from front to back: Beth Kennedy, Lee Stewart, and Pat Campanaro. Not pictured is Kelsey Kennedy who also did a lot of the work to make this event so successful.
By any measure the 2016 Empty Bowls fundraiser was a huge success, said Beth Kennedy, one of the main organizers of the event held Thursday, November 10 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais.
More than 380 people came out to eat, and some took part in the silent auction.
“We raised $9,756,” Kennedy said.
One-half of that money goes to the Cook County Food Shelf, and the other half for “gap funding,” said Kennedy.
“Organizations need to apply to us to be eligible to receive money from this 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.”
In the past, the Violence Protection Center has applied and received money from the gap fund. “They have money to put someone up in a hotel, but they don’t have any funds that cover the cost for food or the cost of gas. We will give them gift cards to the gas station or grocery stores. We can cover the gap in their funding. Special education teachers can apply so they can provide snacks in their rooms. Heck, any teacher can apply. Each of the schools in the county has been given grants in the past, and we hope they fill out applications this year.”
The Silent Auction raised more than $2,000, but those funds are separate, said Kennedy. “They will be used to pay for advertising for next year’s 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.”
One dilemma is that the last two years Empty Bowls has been held during the Cook County girls’ volleyball state tournament appearance.
“A lot of people go down to watch the girls play. One year we had 480 people come to Empty Bowls, but that was before the girls started making it to the state tournament. We are already looking at a date that doesn’t conflict with another trip to state by the girls next year,” Kennedy said.
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.
Leave a Reply