Above: Local artisans and school kids donated their time and skill to make a great variety of colorful bowls for the Empty Bowls fundraiser held at St. John’s Catholic Church in Grand Marais. Left: Jeff Wenz (left) and Stan Tull were two of the many volunteers that worked to make Empty Bowls a success.
St. John’s Catholic Church in Grand Marais was a hub of bustling activity last Thursday, November 13 as approximately 450 people turned out for Empty Bowls.
One of the event organizers, Kelsey Kennedy said numbers were down slightly this year, but overall it was still a good turnout.
All in all, more than 100 people made and donated bowls while 80 people helped set up and put on the lunch and supper and cleaned up afterward, Kennedy said. Half of the money will be donated to the local food shelf while the other half is split between organizations like the Violence Prevention Center, Meals on Wheels, the School District and other Cook County programs that help sustain people in need, said Kennedy, who added, “All of the money raised stays in the community.”
Many local restaurants donated soup, bread, and desserts, while other businesses donated items to sell at the silent auction, said Kennedy.
Proceeds from the meal and sales of brightly colored, hand crafted ceramic bowls; beads; baked goods as well as items sold at silent auction generated $8,494.
Kennedy and Pat Campanaro were the main organizers, but Kennedy said Cook County Schools Art Teacher Mary McDonald also made bowls with her elementary, middle school and high school students that were sold with those profits going directly to the Cook County Food Shelf. “Mary and the kids did a great job,” Kennedy said.
Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States, recently reported that U.S. food banks could soon be overwhelmed. One out of eight Americans goes to bed hungry every day. More than 48 million Americans now use food stamps. Hunger in the U.S. is real and should be a concern for all.
In Cook County many people need assistance from the local food shelf, and that number seems to be growing, said Gwen Lenz, who is a local food shelf board member.
Campanaro and Kennedy thanked the volunteers who helped set up, clean up, served and worked to make Empty Bowls so successful.
For those that missed out, there is still a chance to participate, said Kennedy.
“If people still want to donate they can,” she said. “People can continue to give by sending checks to Empty Bowls, P.O. Box 607, Grand Marais, 55604 or they can stop in and purchase a bowl at the Grand Marais Art Colony.”
Lisa Blackburn and a high school art teacher John Hartom started Empty Bowls in 1990-91 in Michigan. It was a way for high school art students to use their skills making ceramic bowls to help feed the public. Soup and bread were served for a cash donation and people were allowed to keep their bowls as a reminder of all of the empty bowls in the world. Today Empty Bowls has spread throughout the U.S. and to at least a dozen other countries.
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