The Talbot County Empty Bowls Community Dinner began in Anna Harding’s Easton kitchen in October 2008. Taking a break from a day of cooking soup, she flipped through and issue of “American Profile” magazine. A headline grabbed her attention: “Filling empty bowls: Soup project raises funds and awareness for the hungry.”
As she read on, Anna learned how John Hartom, a Michigan art teacher, involved
his art students in a local food drive by asking them to make soup bowls that they would give to guests who attended a fundraising dinner that they would organize. The people who came to this first Empty Bowls dinner left with their soup bowls to remind them that others are hungry every day. This Michigan event evolved into the non-profit organization Empty Bowls, which now raises millions of dollars for hunger-related causes across the US and in countries around the world. (Read the full “American Profile” article at
http://americanprofile.com/articles/empty-bowls-fight-hunger.) Inspired by John Hartom’s story, Anna invited a few friends to help her duplicate the Empty Bowls model in Easton. They were astounded when they took their final tally – they sold 115 tickets and raised $3800, all of which they donated to a few food pantries who operate in Talbot County. Anna comments, “Empty Bowls is an opportunity for those of us who are fortunate enough to eat without worry to reach out to our neighbors for whom a meal may be a luxury. Every penny raised from tickets sales, along with a majority of cash donations, is donated to the food pantries that care for those in need all year long.”
The success of the Empty Bowls Talbot County event, which has raised over $26,000 in its first four years, depends on the generosity and participation of volunteers, students, business owners, community members and philanthropists. Susan duPont, who now co-chairs the Empty Bowls Community Dinner event with Anna Harding, says, “Empty Bowls is a circle of cooperation that brings together people of all ages and means as they rally behind a cause – to feed the hungry in our community.”
The troupe of supporters includes dozens of people who make three kinds of homemade soup – chicken, vegetarian and chili - and bake cookies served at the meal. High school students set up tables and chairs, bus tables and serve beverages. Music was added to the Empty Bowls dinner program in 2010, when high school musicians showcased their talent. The Royal Oak Musicians, who started performing in 2011, are now a staple of the event, entertaining dinner guests with a repertoire of toe-tapping folk songs and instrumental background music. Local businesses donate all of the supplies and many services, including bread, butter, cider, paper products and printing. Other businesses support the event as sponsors, whose donations underwrite the cost of sending middle and high school students to Clay Bakers for bowl painting parties.
“One of our most essential partners is the MidShore Community Foundation,” Susan says. “Their staff handles ticket sales, donations and disbursement of checks to the food pantries each year.”
Susan adds, “We are most grateful to Immanuel Lutheran Church for graciously letting us take over their well-equipped kitchen and filling their church hall with as many as 200 people who come for the Empty Bowls meal.”
If the centerpiece of the Empty Bowls fundraiser is a meal of soup, then bowls are at the heart of the event. For the first dinner in 2009, local potters donated 100 distinctive bowls to the inventory. In subsequent years, as the number of dinner guests rose, local students, under the direction of their art teachers, also made bowls that were used for the dinner. The third and now the primary source of bowls is Clay Bakers in Easton. Karen Montgomery, owner of Clay Bakers, welcomes individuals and groups who come to paint bowls that are donated for the Empty Bowls dinner. Each person pays a fee that covers the cost of the bowl they paint and the processing that turns the bowl into a microwaveable work of art. The bowls stack up in the window of Clay Bakers for weeks prior to the Empty Bowls dinner, becoming an inspiring collection of colors and designs that reflect the playfulness and creative flair of each person who picks up a paint brush. In addition to the bowls, Clay Bakers donates a portion of the studio fees, which is added to money raised from ticket sales. Since the first dinner in 2009, the Talbot County Empty Bowls event has grown every year. The meal has sold out at 225 tickets for the last four years. If there are any bowls left over after the annual dinner, committee members sell them at the dinner and at the Easton Farmers Market, adding hundreds of dollars to the food pantry fund. Anna comments, “This is more than a fundraiser. This is a community building event. People come for the dinner and stay, visiting with friends and making new ones. They have an opportunity to meet representatives from our local food pantries and to learn more about the growing need for food and other social services in our community.”
Susan adds, “People are shocked when they hear the statistics about hunger in what is one of Maryland’s wealthiest counties. The money that we raise helps the food pantries keep their shelves stocked all year long and we are committed to keeping our expenses low so that we can give more money to the pantries every year.”
