Photos and audio: high turnout for Empty Bowls 2024

It was a full house for the Empty Bowls lunchtime event at Up Yonder on Nov. 14, as volunteers and local businesses came together to raise money for food insecurity.

“Empty Bowls is a community event to provide support for families, and our event collects donations to help fund 25 to 27 different nonprofits,” says co-organizer Beth Kennedy.

Participating non-profits serve a wide range of age groups across Cook County and can distribute food cards to families and individuals in need, thanks to funds raised by Empty Bowls.

Local restaurants donate 5 gallons of soup, local grocers donate bread, and community members donate a variety of baked goods to make the event a success.

“Most of our effort is to try to get people to be aware that there are these needs in our community,” says Kennedy.

Grand Marais Art Colony facilitates the making of over 200 ceramic bowls that are donated to Empty Bowls.

“This year we had quite a few Empty Bowls open studio events where different potters came in and made these bowls,” says ceramics studio manager Brett Monahan. “We also did a paint-a-bowl event where a lot of local kids came in and painted the bowls. So a lot of the ones that you see that are hand-painted were painted by local kids.”

Monahan, a professional potter for 12 years who moved to Cook County in 2023, has found the community welcoming.

“This event is a good example of how this community can come together to do things that I haven’t really seen happen in other communities in the same way,” says Monahan. “I think it’s a pretty special community.”

Empty Bowls accepts monetary donations through the end of the year, through their website or by sending a check to Empty Bowls, P.O. Box 294, Grand Marais, Minnesota, 55604.

Find audio and photos from the event below.

Chuck Olsen November 15, 2024