Empty Bowls Raises $100,000 to Fight Local Hunger

Chappaqua Cares raised $100,000 to help end food insecurity in Westchester County with its first fundraising event, Empty Bowls Westchester.

About 200,000 — or one in five — residents in Westchester County are hungry or at risk of hunger. On Nov. 15, almost 200 guests came together at the Whippoorwill Club to raise money for local food pantries serving them.

Empty Bowls Westchester guests dined on a simple meal of soup and bread and each took home an empty bowl painted by local artists including from the Northern Westchester Artists Guild, who helped paint and glaze 150 bowls. A celebrity bowl auction with bowls signed by Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, Guy Fierri and Pinkalicious author Victoria Kann, to name just a few, raised more than $4,000 to contribute to the cause.

The Hermitage Club in Vermont, a platinum corporate sponsor of the event, offered all Empty Bowls guests the opportunity to purchase a half-price, one-year membership for $5,000 and all proceeds were donated to Empty Bowls Westchester. Additional corporate platinum event sponsors included Camp Nabby and Credit Suisse.

“Empty Bowls Westchester was a huge success and demonstrates how committed the Chappaqua community is to eradicating hunger in Westchester County,” say Chappaqua Cares co-founders Jessica Reinmann and Dawn Greenberg. “Chappaqua Cares will continue to connect the community with additional ways to support these local food banks.”

Empty Bowls Westchester is part of the Empty Bowls project, an international grassroots effort to raise money and awareness in the fight against hunger. Empty Bowls communities work together to create handcrafted bowls for guests to enjoy a simple meal of soup and bread in these bowls. Guests are invited to take their bowls home to serve as a reminder of all of the people in the world whose bowls are empty on a daily basis.

Chappaqua Cares is dedicated to connecting local residents with philanthropic opportunities for volunteering, fundraising and donating.

All proceeds from the event will benefit The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry, The Community Center of Northern Westchester in Katonah and The Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry in Pleasantville. Every dollar donated to the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry buys $4 worth of food so the monies raised from Empty Bowls Westchester will help purchase $400,000 worth of food at the pantry. The monies donated to the Community Center of Northern Westchester will help keep shelves stocked for almost 12 weeks and will provide food to approximately 2,320 families during that time.

“The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry is deeply grateful to Chappaqua Cares, their Empty Bowls committee, and all our neighbors who participated in the success of this extraordinary event,” said Robert Cummings, Board President of The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry. “Through your energies, enthusiasm, and generosity, we will be able to provide a full assortment of healthy food to our neighbors in need throughout the winter and beyond.”

PHOTOS: Chappaqua Cares at Empty Bowls Westchster/credit Susa Designs