THUNDER BAY – The 23rd annual Empty Bowls Caring Hearts Fundraiser was held on Saturday in the same drive through format used throughout the pandemic, which, Robin Cooper, co-chair, says is due to wanting attendees to feel safe while still allowing the organization to raise funds.
“We raise funds for Shelter House Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay Food Bank, and our event allows people to buy a ticket to get a bowl of soup and it comes in a jar this year so they can take it home with them,” she said.
“And also, a handcrafted pottery bowl from one of the local Potters and the Thunder Bay Potters Guild organizes the bowls for us.”
This year's fundraiser received some sponsorship from Impala Canada which Cooper says allowed organizers to provide grants to five local community organizations including Our Kids Count, the RFDA, Shelter House staff, Roots to Harvest Community Food Centre, and Willow Springs Creative Centre who made the soup.
“So, we wanted to create a sense of community even though we weren't sitting down and eating together, and we thought that was one way that we could do it is the community all working together to support each other and the response has been amazing,” she said.
“And we're so pleased with people continuing to support this event even though it's not indoors.”
The fundraiser had set a goal of 350 bowls to be sold but organizers say they surpassed that goal and were able to sell even more after the potters had informed them that they had extra bowls.
“So we talked to our the people preparing the soup and they said, yeah, we can make extra soups, so we just kept selling tickets right up until last night,” Stapleton said.
“So, we went over our goal, and we'll have a total within the next couple of days that includes all of the things that we're selling on site and also donations that we're receiving here on the day of.”
Cooper says that she and the entire organization is very thankful for the support that the community has shown them throughout the years.
“The need is great. We're glad that the community still wants to support us, and we hope that people will continue to support us, like, we'd like there to be, you know, a 45th annual empty bowls,” she said.
“And so all of our volunteers are really committed and we just hope people will continue to follow us on Facebook and on our website so that they can [know] our future plans because we have a few other things we'd like to offer in the new year and so hopefully they'll follow us and learn about it and support us because you know the need is great and we want to make sure that we support these organizations as much as possible.”
