Enjoying the lunch hour serving of soup and bread at this year’s Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Cook County Food Shelf at First Congregational Church in Grand Marais on November 11 were (L-R) Bill Lenz, Gwen Lenz, Virginia Hahn, and David Hahn.
“The Empty Bowls dinner and silent auction was an incredible success!” said Grand Marais Art Colony Executive Director and event organizer Amy Demmer. “We had a great turnout.”
What percentage of Cook
County will benefit from the
funds raised in this year’s event
on behalf of the Cook County
Food Shelf? 10 percent.
The annual Empty Bowls fundraiser was held at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Grand Marais on Thursday, November 11, 2010. The Grand Marais Art Colony helped organize the event and enabled the creation of over 400 clay bowls that participants could pick from and take home.
Four hundred and five guests enjoyed either a soup and bread lunch or a soup and bread supper, a great deal more than the 257 who attended last year, bringing in $5,250, an amount considerably higher than last year’s $3,500.
How much does it cost to
run the Food Shelf each month?
$3,500.
Top: Kitchen volunteers stayed busy serving various kinds of soup. Two mealtimes were offered this year, attracting 405 people. Above: Bowls crafted by local artisans and donated by area businesses were auctioned, helping bring the total amount raised for the Cook County Food Shelf to $5,250.
Fifteen businesses donated soups and/or silent auction items. One hundred fifty people created bowls at the Art Colony, with about the same number of school children making bowls in local schools.
“Our high-expectation goal was 400,” said Demmer. “After the last person came through the line, we had about two bowls of soup and about 10 bowls left over.” Thisis the first year both lunch and supper were offered. A hundred and eighty people, many of them business people and seniors, took advantage of the lunch hours and a lot of families comprised the other 215 that came for supper.
Demmer appreciated the way area churches got their congregations involved. St. John’s Catholic Church was instrumental in setting up the event, and Father Seamus Walsh did a lot to promote it, Demmer said.
The Food Shelf, located in the lower level of the First Congregational Church in Grand Marais, is open every Monday from 3-5 p.m. and the first Wednesday of each month from 5-7 p.m. Food donations can be dropped off at St. John’s Catholic Church, Johnson’s Foods, the Cook County Co-op, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, or the Congregational Church.
Which is better: to donate
food for the Food Shelf or to
donate money?
“We need both,” said Food Shelf volunteer Bill Lenz. Cash donations are used to obtain food from Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank, a non profit surplus food distributor, at prices well below retail. Bags of food are stocked with a standard assortment of foods that covers basic menu items. Donations of other things such as ketchup and paper supplies are extras that recipients can pick from. “It’s nice that people have a choice,” said Lenz.
How many Minnesotans rely
on food shelves every month?
555,000
How many people in Cook
County rely on some sort of
food support each month, not
including families who utilize the
school’s free and reduced lunch
program? About 500.
Demmer was enthusiastic about the success of this year’s Empty Bowls event. “Thank you to everyone who participated in making it such a fantastic fundraiser for the Cook County Food Shelf and our hungry neighbors!” she said. “This is an incredible indication of how strongly Cook County supports its community.”
Who pays for the Cook
County Food Shelf? You!
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