Page 76 - LIN November 2022 Issue

JEFF LYTLE

FOOD CHARITY

becomes year-round fundraiser

Like so many other non-profits that citizens depend on, food provider Empty Bowls hit a wall
when the pandemic hit. People working shoulder-to-shoulder is the hallmark of the crusade,
launched locally in 2007 and now extending around the world — but COVID stopped that.

Empty Bowls was forced to pivot — and did from silent auctions for extra-special
so in a way that leaves the all-volunteer effort bowls, trays and cups.
stronger than ever as a year-round ceramics At first, all of the proceeds were
production and sales powerhouse. handed to a single food charity.
Borrowing the template of a 1990 charity Later, grants were extended to a
innovation in Michigan, Naples’ Empty Bowls’ dozen local non-profits dealing
mission was simple: Hold a public event once with food insecurity. Recipients
a year to raise money to feed the hungry. pledge to use all of the money
Tickets would entitle patrons to pick and keep for food, and none for staff.
bowls handcrafted by volunteers; local restau- The grants broke the six-
rants and clubs would donate vats of soup for digit milestone, with $125,000,
patrons to sample and savor. in 2019.
The self-titled event over the years, always And then … COVID-19. In
at Naples’ Cambier Park, draws crowds into March 2020 Empty Bowls just
the thousands and makes additional money stopped. Health-conscious volun-
teers backed away from leading
group “painting parties” to stock-
pile bowls for 2021, and painters
holed up at home.
Empty Bowls rose to the challenge
with bagged to-go kits, like restaurants
offer to-go food, with generic ceramic bowls
and an assortment of paints and brushes.
The whole kit was to be returned to Empty
Bowls headquarters in a North Naples indus-
trial park. The tools would be reused and the
bowls fired in a kiln serendipitously donated
by the Collier Community Foundation a few
years earlier. Left: Three hundred bowls were turned out
The emergency effort produced enough at a single painting party hosted by a Cell Tower
Builders Convention on Marco Island.
bowls to sell online and at Empty Bowls open Above: Picasso-style face painted bowl by
houses, raising even more money — supple- Sandee Kozlow Mahler.
mented by sponsors and donors — than the Right: Showpieces for sale at Empty Bowls –
year before, reports President Betsy Dawson. shared Mercato storefront.

THE 2023 EMPTY BOWLS EVENT is set for January 21, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Cambier Park.
For information about tickets, Empty Bowls open houses and more,
go to emptybowlsnaples.com, email friendsofebn@gmail.com or call 591-8848.

76 Life in Naples November 2022