MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana held its fifth annual Empty Bowls event on Saturday. Unlike previous years, the event was to-go style.
The handcrafted bowls donated by local artists are a reminder of all the empty bowls in the community. The Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana’s Director of Development Sarah Hoffman says that’s the reason for the event.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen more people in need of food assistance than ever before in the history of the food bank,” Hoffman said. “From our natural disasters here locally… to the global pandemic that’s caused layoffs. More people now than ever are coming to our pantry, coming to the food bank for the first time.”
This year, the fundraising event was to-go style outside the Monroe Civic Center.
Community members bought tickets online for a locally prepared pint of soup, a dining passport full of coupons for local restaurants and of course, a choice of their favorite handmade bowl.
“I totally support the idea of feeding, and I love the bowl. I do the food bank event every year,” Barbara Mabry said, Empty Bowls To Go participant.
“Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana is an amazing organization, and we desperately need the help this year,” Ann Daigle said, Empty Bowls To Go participant.
Hoffman says this is the food bank’s largest fundraising event of the year, and all of the money raised goes to help the food bank feed people in the community.
“Normally, there are lots of big food drives through the year that support the food bank because of COVID we really didn’t have all of those food drives. Also, there was a little bit of difference in the supply chain for groceries that would normally get donated to the food bank. People were actually buying all the things off the shelves. So, we did have to spend a little bit more money to bring food in this year than we normally would. Donations from our local community help us keep our shelves stocked,” Hoffman says.
Empty Bowls To Go sold out all their tickets including a locally made bowl and had a long line of cars show up.
“This is a great way for us not only to raise awareness for the people who struggle with hunger in our community but also kind of give people a chance to come together ever during a time where we can’t gather as we normally would,” Hoffman said.
The food bank says each ticket purchased will help provide about 200 hundred meals to children, families and seniors who face hunger in the community.
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