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Empty bowls, full hearts: McKinney church again raises funds to fight local hunger
Chris Beattie/Staff photo - St. Peter's Episcopal Church members Kaye Moreno (left) and Ula Joe Williams dish out soup at the church's second annual Empty Bowls fundraiser Thursday evening. Church members will use donations from the event to assemble Easter meal baskets and deliver them to area families in need.
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
What do bowls, Easter baskets and satisfied hunger have in common?
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, for the second straight year.
The McKinney church held another Empty Bowls fundraiser Thursday night, gathering donations to feed 180 area families in need.
Through a continued partnership with Community Lifeline Center (CLC), the church hosted a soup dinner where guests could eat and buy a homemade bowl with money that goes toward assembling Easter meal baskets church members and Kiwanis Club members will deliver to the families Easter weekend.
It's the church's version of Empty Bowls, an international grassroots initiative to raise money and awareness for the worldwide fight against hunger. The movement's mission: "fight hunger one bowl at a time."
"They're very appreciative that we would even think about them around Easter," said Delphia Adeoguin, a CLC case manager who identified 100 families to receive baskets this year. "Most places focus on Christmas or Thanksgiving, but not a lot of places focus on Easter."
Except St. Peter's, which has delivered such meals for more than a decade. Their fundraising precursor seemingly came to a peak two years ago through a dwindling book fair that enabled deliveries to 87 families.
But through its first Empty Bowls event last year, the church was able to feed more than 150 families. Local artists, church and Kiwanis members made 180 bowls, which remind donors of pervasive hunger every time they see it throughout the year. About 200 community members attended the event, donating $4,000 to the cause.
This year, along with CLC's 100, the church identified 80 families from a local elementary school who'll also receive baskets. With more widespread bowl-making - artists, clubs, students and youth groups - the church furnished 250 bowls for the occasion.
"Last year, we didn't have our own kiln," said Vicki Cobbs, St. Peter's member and project organizer. "This year, we fired our own bowls from scratch, so that has really made it special for us."
Area restaurants were "begging us to let them bring them soup," she said. And word of the event clearly fell on more open ears around the community, evidenced by long soup lines down the St. Peter's hallway. More than 300 people came and etched donations up to $6,000.
"We were handing out flyers, and people were saying they already knew about it and were coming," Cobbs said. "So we expected a lot more participation."
Few likely knew the added incentive this time around. While most of their donations will pay for foods like ham, vegetables and potatoes, some will go toward CLC's client-choice food pantry set to open later this year.
With a financial investment, the center hopes to open a separate facility where CLC clients can come shop for free, needed food. Case managers will determine how many pantry visits clients get based on their income and family size, and allot them a certain number of pounds of food for each visit.
"St. Peter's has been a partner of CLC for many years," said Christine Hockin-Boyd, CLC director, adding there was somewhat of a lapse in the partnership for a few years. "I think in the mid-2000s, we reestablished the relationship, I started meeting with them in 2009, and it's been blossoming ever since."
Community members who wanted to buy more than a bowl could adopt a family for $30-$35 and purchase additional Easter basket items, like coffee, cupcakes and even some chocolate bunnies.
All for a simple goal: a meal for each family. Empty bowls, baskets, full bellies and full hearts will soon have something in common again.
"It's just another opportunity to help, not something people normally think about doing," said Christy Amundson, St. Peter's member. "When you think Easter, you think candy and eggs, you don't think about people around you who are hungry."
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, for the second straight year.
The McKinney church held another Empty Bowls fundraiser Thursday night, gathering donations to feed 180 area families in need.
Through a continued partnership with Community Lifeline Center (CLC), the church hosted a soup dinner where guests could eat and buy a homemade bowl with money that goes toward assembling Easter meal baskets church members and Kiwanis Club members will deliver to the families Easter weekend.
It's the church's version of Empty Bowls, an international grassroots initiative to raise money and awareness for the worldwide fight against hunger. The movement's mission: "fight hunger one bowl at a time."
"They're very appreciative that we would even think about them around Easter," said Delphia Adeoguin, a CLC case manager who identified 100 families to receive baskets this year. "Most places focus on Christmas or Thanksgiving, but not a lot of places focus on Easter."
Except St. Peter's, which has delivered such meals for more than a decade. Their fundraising precursor seemingly came to a peak two years ago through a dwindling book fair that enabled deliveries to 87 families.
But through its first Empty Bowls event last year, the church was able to feed more than 150 families. Local artists, church and Kiwanis members made 180 bowls, which remind donors of pervasive hunger every time they see it throughout the year. About 200 community members attended the event, donating $4,000 to the cause.
This year, along with CLC's 100, the church identified 80 families from a local elementary school who'll also receive baskets. With more widespread bowl-making - artists, clubs, students and youth groups - the church furnished 250 bowls for the occasion.
"Last year, we didn't have our own kiln," said Vicki Cobbs, St. Peter's member and project organizer. "This year, we fired our own bowls from scratch, so that has really made it special for us."
Area restaurants were "begging us to let them bring them soup," she said. And word of the event clearly fell on more open ears around the community, evidenced by long soup lines down the St. Peter's hallway. More than 300 people came and etched donations up to $6,000.
"We were handing out flyers, and people were saying they already knew about it and were coming," Cobbs said. "So we expected a lot more participation."
Few likely knew the added incentive this time around. While most of their donations will pay for foods like ham, vegetables and potatoes, some will go toward CLC's client-choice food pantry set to open later this year.
With a financial investment, the center hopes to open a separate facility where CLC clients can come shop for free, needed food. Case managers will determine how many pantry visits clients get based on their income and family size, and allot them a certain number of pounds of food for each visit.
"St. Peter's has been a partner of CLC for many years," said Christine Hockin-Boyd, CLC director, adding there was somewhat of a lapse in the partnership for a few years. "I think in the mid-2000s, we reestablished the relationship, I started meeting with them in 2009, and it's been blossoming ever since."
Community members who wanted to buy more than a bowl could adopt a family for $30-$35 and purchase additional Easter basket items, like coffee, cupcakes and even some chocolate bunnies.
All for a simple goal: a meal for each family. Empty bowls, baskets, full bellies and full hearts will soon have something in common again.
"It's just another opportunity to help, not something people normally think about doing," said Christy Amundson, St. Peter's member. "When you think Easter, you think candy and eggs, you don't think about people around you who are hungry."
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