THUNDER BAY – Empty Bowls was another huge success after having its 25th anniversary on Sunday.
Robin Cooper, chair of Empty Bowls, said it's part of an international movement that raises money for food security programs.
“In Thunder Bay, we raise money for Shelter House Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay Food Bank.
“The idea behind the event is that potters make bowls and those who attend the event get to select a bowl and then have a meal and then they take home with them an empty bowl.
“The idea is that the empty bowl is a reminder when they see the bowl that there are people in our community who can't fill their bowl. It's very important that we keep this event going because unfortunately, the need isn't going away,” she said.
The event is typically held at the Moose Hall, but due to unforeseen circumstances the hall was unable to host the event this year, Confederation College made their Ryan Hall cafeteria available on short notice.
“We're just really grateful to Confederation College through their Confederation Cares campaign.
“They made this happen for us. We found out at 4 p.m. on Thursday, and by 9 a.m. on Friday, we were making plans to hold the event here.
“Everything fell into place, everything is just going perfectly and we couldn't be happier.”
Cooper said there are many ways community members can help organizations like Shelter House Thunder Bay and Thunder Bay Food Bank.
“I think one thing that's really important is thinking about what the community needs when it's time to vote.
“If this is important to you, then think about that when you can take your civic duty seriously and vote. Think about what the party you might want to vote for stands for and how they want to help people.”
Both organizations also always need volunteers, Cooper said.
“I do a lot of volunteering there myself and I work with different groups to make meals. They're always looking for more volunteers.
“We have some resources on our website because the two things we do with Empty Bowls is raise awareness and raise funds.
“People in our community are hungry and the reason people are hungry is because they don’t have enough money.”
Poverty is the root cause of hunger, Cooper said.
“We need, as a society, to take care of people. People need to make more money if they're working and we need more support for people who can't work.
“That's the resources we have on our website, evidence-based resources that people, if they're interested, can take a look at to raise their own awareness and their own knowledge level about why people in our community are hungry.”
What Cooper loves the most about Empty Bowls is that she sees a lot of familiar faces.
“I know people, they come every year, but I also see a lot of new faces. I know that this event is resonating with the community because we see a lot of young people here today, young families. We know that that means this event can last for another 25 years,” she said.
Cooper said they were able to raise $30,000 last year and hope to raise the same this year.
Cooper said they hope to maintain the partnership with Confederation College.
“We've had some preliminary talks already. We have some ideas about how we can get students more involved in this event too, which I think would be really important.
“Right from the culinary students making the soup to actually having students be here and get to be a part of the event as well.”
Brendan Carlin, executive director at Shelter House, said Empty Bowls was completely sold out.
“The money is great and it will fill our pantry for a while. But really, it is about awareness.
“We're sharing a bowl of soup here and for many of us that's a comfort food. We have it when it's cold outside or maybe it's what we had when we were kids and we stayed home from school.
“For some people that is the difference between being nourished or not being nourished. Food is a real doorway for some of our clients to services, to shelter, to other help that they can get.”
Carlin said the hope is for people who struggle to get into a more stable situation eventually.
“It's kind of leading into the holiday time, which is when lots of charities make their money. Essentially, there's a lot of donations that come.
“Having an event like this to kick off the season, if you will, is really great for us.”
Seeing the support from the community is really powerful, Carlin said.
“A lot of people say Thunder Bay is really generous, but it's really true.
“People show up for these types of events and for 25 years people have been showing up to this. I was talking with a gentleman from the Potters Guild before and he's made 80 bowls every single year for 25 years.”
Carlin said it’s heart warming to see all of the support from the community.
“The funds from this event we tend to put towards our food program. We feed three meals a day for our residents and for the community at lunch and dinner.
“These funds will mostly be put towards that, just putting food on the table for some people,” he said.
More information is available at the Empty Bowls website.
