Without the contributions of events like the Empty Bowls Caring Hearts dinner, Shelter House Thunder Bay wouldn’t be able to provide the services they do, said executive director Cal Rankin.
Last year the event raised $15,000 with half the funds for Shelter House and the other half for the Thunder Bay Food Bank. Rankin said with a growing need for food and shelter in the community, the commitment they receive from Empty Bowls is vital.
"The need has grown 30 per cent in the last year, in one single year," he said. "We do, on average, 515 meals daily; that’s through hot meals as well as bagged lunches and groceries we distribute every day. We move a tremendous amount of food and feed a great many hungry people daily."
The 11 th annual Empty Bowls Caring Hearts dinner will take place Oct. 17 – World Food Day – this year at the Moose Hall beginning at 6 p.m. Committee chairperson Nelly Reedhead said they chose Shelter House and the food bank as recipients of the funds raised because they address the needs of the hungry.
"Yesterday I was here for Thanksgiving dinner and we fed 214 people so that’s a huge crowd; just to buy the food is a lot of money," Reedhead said. "There are always items that aren’t donated …we often don’t have margarine or eggs. They need the money and the food bank does too because they supply people in need."
For $25, people will receive a bowl made by a member of the Thunder Bay Potters Guild or a hand-quilted placemat as well as a meal similar one would receive in a soup kitchen – a bowl of soup, a bun and a dessert.
There will be live entertainment provided by the Kam Valley Fiddlers and the Good News Jazz Band, as well as several items to be raffled including two local food boxes filled with items from vendors at the Country Market and a handmade quilt.
Bowls signed by celebrities like Patrick Sharp, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Charlie Wilkins, the Pyatt Brothers and Hayley Irwin will also be up for bid in a silent auction.
