Left: The First Congregational Church in Grand Marais was a busy place on November 10 during Empty Bowls. Upstairs were the amazing bowls made by community members to be filled with delicious donated soup.
November 10 was a big soup day in Cook County. There was neither windstorm nor snowstorm, and grocery stores were open as usual. Four hundred eighty people, by last count, converged on First Congregational United Church of Christ in Grand Marais to donate money, pick out glazed and fired clay bowls handmade by members of the community, and enjoy an array of soup and bread creations from local restaurants. There were chowders, chicken wild rice, pumpkin soup and more!
The event was the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser to raise money for the Cook County Food Shelf.
$6,200 was raised from donations toward the event, $670 of that from parents buying the bowls their children had made in school. Helping to offset expenses for the sponsoring agency, the Grand Marais Art Colony, was a silent auction that had brought in $1,500 as of four days after the event, with still more expected. Over 100 people made bowls this year, requiring over 30 firings of the Art Colony’s kiln.
Top right: Ilena Berg was one of the friendly kitchen volunteers serving up soup and bread Bottom right: After helping serve soup and bread during the Empty Bowls evening rush hour, these young men finally got to sit down and enjoy the hearty soup.
Over 10 percent of Cook County residents benefit from the food shelf. They represent a fraction of the 420,000 Minnesotans who receive food support every month.
The cost of running the Cook County Food Shelf is $3,500 a year; more food is always needed. The food shelf runs on private donations of both money and food. Each dollar donated to the food shelf buys well over what a dollar could buy at a retail grocery store.
Food donations can be dropped off at the Cook County Whole Foods Co-Op, Johnson’s Foods, Gene’s Foods, St. John’s Catholic Church, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and First Congregational United Church of Christ.
The food shelf, located in the lower level of the Congregational Church, is open Mondays from 3 to 5 p.m. and the first Wednesday of the month from 5 to 7 p.m.
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