After a detour for desserts, the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser returns to serving up bowls of soups again this year. The event also will return to its date closer to Thanksgiving as a way to help people remember those who might be missing meals over the holiday. “It just keeps evolving as people learn more about it,” said Ruth Willoughby, business engagement director for Watered Gardens Ministries in Joplin.
“We want to keep it fresh, mix it up. Our customers are more accustomed to November, and soup matches perfectly with chilly weather.” Empty Bowls is a local grassroots effort where area pottery artists make bowls for the fundraiser.
The donated bowls are sold to raise money for local hunger relief. Last year, the fundraiser shifted to desserts, and the event was held in September. This is the sixth year Watered Gardens has hosted the event and its 12th year overall.
The first Empty Bowls event was held in 2012 by Heather Grills. Willoughby said Watered Gardens wants to help people escape poverty, teaching them they have dignity, value and worth. When the ministry started hosting the event, it was important for Watered Gardens to share the proceeds with like-minded nonprofits.
The funds can be a large part of those organizations’ operating budgets. The event has two separate parts. First, Watered Gardens is currently holding a presale for bowls at Joplin Greenhouse & The Coffee Shop.
The presale is an opportunity for people who might not be in town for the event and people who want their first pick of the bowl selection. At the presale event, bowls are selling for $30. People can also purchase a bowl cozy for $5 with a bowl, or $8 separately.
The presale runs through Saturday. Hours are from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m, Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The Empty Bowls event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.
m. Nov. 14 at Suzanne’s Natural Foods in Joplin.
At the event, bowls will be available for purchase for $25. They will also dish out servings of soup from 12 area restaurants. Anyone who purchases a bowl from the presale can also stop by for soup.
The dishes include soup specialties from Suzanne's Natural Foods, Granny Shaffer's, Doug Musick of Southwest Missouri Bank, The Bruncheonette, Red Onion in Galena, Kansas, Panera Bread, Schlotsky's, Han the Sushi Man, Club 1201, Grace Baptist Church, Jamey Smith of Redings Mill Bread and Great Western Dining. “The whole takeaway is that Empty Bowls is reminiscent of the 1930s soup lines, where people were actually standing in a line with their bowls at soup kitchens,” Willoughby said. “It’s a creative way for the art community to help us to remind people that every time you eat out of your bowl, there’s someone else in the world who is hungry.
” Each bowl purchased provides about 15 meals to local nonprofits that provide hunger relief as part of their outreach ministry and are 100% privately funded. This year’s proceeds will be split between Watered Gardens, Mission Joplin, We Care of the Four States and Hope Kitchen. Last year, the Empty Bowls event raised around $38,000 for local nonprofits.
Willoughby estimates the event has raised over $350,000 to fight hunger since it started. “Every year the community comes out in full force,” Willoughby said. “We see businesses close down on event day and they bring all their employees to enjoy lunch with us on soup day.
The bowls also make great gifts. It’s one of those win-win purchases. You buy it, and you’re able to contribute to a wonderful organization and have a beautiful bowl to gift to someone.
” Pottery artists provide their clay, their time and their labor to the fundraiser. It takes about two weeks to make a bowl. The event needs about 1,000 bowls to have a successful event, and Willoughby likes to have a variety of bowls because art is subjective.
“It really is a labor of love for our artists that do this for us. These artists do this out of the kindness of their hearts,” Willoughby said..
