This year’s Empty Bowls community event was unlike any other. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there wasn’t the usual community get-together for a meal of soup and bread held at St. John’s Catholic Church in Grand Marais. People purchased ceramic bowls online, but the community auction that raised significant funds through donated products and gift certificates, etc. was discontinued this year.
Still, the 2020 virtual event raised $22,000, which, as noted by Beth Kennedy (one of the long time coordinators of Empty Bowls) “is fantastic and we are thankful to all who gave, but we are still short of our $30,000 goal which we did make last year.”
Proceeds from Empty Bowls are distributed to nonprofits who use those funds to feed those in need that live in Cook County.
As Kennedy further stated, “We have more need than ever this year, can you send a personal donation? Or a business sponsorship of $250? This is a wonderful way you can help locally.”
Begun in 1990 in a Michigan high school art class, students made ceramic bowls and then invited the public to eat soup and bread as part of a charitable hunger drive. When the attendees left, they were given the empty bowls as a reminder of hunger in the world. Thus, Empty Bowls began, and the idea has spread to communities across the country. Sadly, the efforts to combat the spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic have only exacerbated the problem of hunger locally and nationally.
If you would like to contribute locally, donations can be sent to Empty Bowls, P.O. Box 294, Grand Marais MN 55604.
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