Empty Bowls do Feed the Hungry

The 17th Annual “Empty Bowls” benefits ICA Foodshelf and ResourceWest

Come to Empty Bowls on Tuesday, March 24th …. 11am to 7pm at the Hopkins Performing Arts Center at 1111 Mainstreet in Hopkins MN. It is a community event, that consists of a simple meal of soup and bread, that raises money for the ICA Foodshelf and ResourceWest community service groups. Both of these organizations support our communities, our neighbors and people less fortunate. Wikipedia says: “Empty Bowls is an international project to fight hunger, personalized by artists and art organizations on a community level.”

Dale Feste a member of the Minnetonka Rotary and the President of the ICA Foodshelf told us what happen last year. “The Hopkins Empty Bowls Event in 2014 event raised over $84,000 and the Minnetonka Rotary or its members were responsible for over $7,500. The ICA Foodshelf has a budget of $1.4M and it is 45% funded by private donations, with very little government assistance, and Empty Bowls promotes the need and the community responds with their support. Peg Keenan the executive director does an excellent job of managing the people and logistics involve.”

The ICA Foodshelf K-Tel Drive site opened in May of 2014, and last month served 900 households, 2700 individuals, of which 8% were seniors. The ICA Foodshelf ( all locations ) provided 1.5 millon pounds of food last year and 9000 meals per month on average.

Molly Link, although new to her position, as executive director at ResourceWest is very excited about Empty Bowls because it promotes an awareness of ResourceWest. And she understands that the community rises up with support and has grown over the last 17years. ResourceWest fills a void in our community for people in trouble who have no where else to turn. They provide crisis management, support and coordinate a recovery plan for these people and connecting individuals and families to resources.

The story is bigger than everything you read here, because there are a lot of churches, community groups, small businesses, and large corporations that are paying attention. But ultimately it is about people who care. The need is great and word of mouth promotion by the leaders of these organizations and others that have not even been mentioned here have motivated the community to participate. People like Peg Keenan, and Molly Link are good stewards and guides in our community to help make things work out. We look forward to seeing you at Empty Bowls on Tuesday, March 24th for Soup and Bread and maybe a few extra bucks because you care.

Further information can be found:

Empty Bowls Hopkins: http://www.hopkinsschools.org/community-education/volunteer-partners/empty-bowls/what-empty-bowls

Empty Bowls Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_Bowls

ICA Foodshelf: http://www.icafoodshelf.org/home.html

ResourceWest: http://www.resourcewest.org

The Minnetonka Rotary: http://www.minnetonkarotary.org