On behalf of the volunteers and clients at the Cook County Food Shelf, I want to thank all who made the Empty Bowls event a success again this year. The Art Colony staff and volunteers, the Empty Bowls planning committee, the volunteers who helped serve and clean up and the talented people who made the bowls all worked together to prepare for those who came to have soup and bread as a meal on November 10. Well over $5,000 was raised for the purchase of food for your neighbors in need.
Over 100 families use the Food Shelf each month. Almost all of our adult clients work in the community but because of low income or seasonal work these families would otherwise have to make impossible choices such as choosing to feed their children or pay for a car repair so they could get to work.
Your contributions to Empty Bowls pay for about a month and a half of the Food Shelf ’s budget, so it is a significant part of our operating expenses each year. Many of you also contribute individually or through organizations throughout the year and we can provide better food assistance because of your ongoing generosity.
I would also like to thank the group who put together the nonprofit guide that was sent out to all county residents with contact information. We have received several new contributions because those donors now have our correct mailing address.
I am proud to live in a community that is so full of generous people who take the time to plan Empty Bowls or put together a guide to all the deserving nonprofit organizations in our county, giving them a chance to summarize what they do.
When you look at how many organizations we have that try to help others in a county our size, it speaks to the kind and generous spirit of the people who live here. I’m always in awe of all the opportunities our children have to grow up with an appreciation for service to their community by how we enlist them to be involved as they were at the Empty Bowls dinner.
I’m thankful I had an opportunity to move here many years ago and become a part of that community spirit.
Steve Deschene
Grand Marais
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