Empty Bowls Fundraiser Hopes to Help Hungry in Salem

So far this year, 4.4 millions pounds of food has been distributed to hungry families through a network of 70 member charities.

Photo: emptybowls.net

(SALEM) - Bowls come in all shapes, sizes and colors -- especially at “Empty Bowls,” the fifth annual fundraiser for Marion-Polk Food Share, hosted by the State Street Merchants in downtown Salem.

On Salem’s First Wednesday, December 6th, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at US Bank, Ladd & Bush Branch, 302 State Street, nearly 300 handmade bowls will be ready to sell.

With each purchase, a free simple meal of soup and bread will be served by Wild Pear Restaurant and Cascade Banking Company as a reminder that there is always someone in our community who goes to bed hungry. Live entertainment by guitarist and musician, Mark Seymour.

The bowls were created by local artists during a 12 hour throw-a-thon this summer at Salem Art Association’s Visual Arts Center, which closed in September.

“Empty Bowls” is a national project that takes on its own flavor in each city. It started with a Michigan high school art teacher and students were looking for a creative way to support local hunger.

Marion-Polk Food Share serves the emergency food needs of Marion and Polk counties and touches the lives of almost 70,000 individuals each year, nearly half of them children.

100 percent of “Empty Bowls” sales will help continue to feed hungry families in the Salem-area.