The all-volunteer Talbot County Empty Bowls committee recently completed distributing checks to ten food pantries. Each beneficiary of the 2018 fundraising efforts received a check for $3,389.
The food pantries that benefited from Talbot County Empty Bowls in 2018 include Asbury Methodist Church, Easton; Care Packs; Christ Church St. Michaels Food Panty; Harvest of Hope Food Pantry, Easton; Neighborhood Service Center; Presbyterian Church, Easton; St. Vincent de Paul Society; Scotts United Methodist Church, Trappe; Tilghman Island Food Pantry; and Union United Methodist Church, St. Michaels.
“Although the annual Empty Bowls dinner held in February is our signature event, we fundraise all year long in an effort to end hunger in Talbot County,” says Susan duPont, who has been co-chair of the Talbot County Empty Bowls initiative for 10 years.
“After the dinner each year, we sell hand-painted bowls at community events, adding more funds to the Empty Bowls kitty,” duPont adds. “We speak at public events and cooperate with other organizations to enlist the people of Talbot County to help their neighbors in need.”
Since its first dinner in 2009 Talbot County Empty Bowls has distributed $163,000 to local food pantries that feed the hungry 365 days a year. In addition to Empty Bowls dinner ticket sales, the funds given to the food pantries come from selling leftover hand-painted bowls at the Easton Farmer’s Market and at other community events. The first annual appeal completed in 2017 also contributed to the 26 percent increase in financial support for Talbot food pantries in 2018.
“We depend on these bowls sales as well as sponsorships, donations of goods and services, and the work of many volunteers to ensure that every penny raised from dinner ticket sales is returned to the community organizations committed to serving people in need,” says Anna Harding, who sparked the idea for Talbot County Empty Bowls.
The 2019 Talbot County Empty Bowls dinner will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019. Tickets will go on sale in January.
Donations to Talbot County Empty Bowls are accepted year round through the Mid-Shore Community Foundation. Make credit card payments at www.mscf.org. (Specify Talbot County Empty Bowls as the fund under “Additional Information.”) Mail checks payable to Talbot County Empty Bowls to Mid-Shore Community Foundation, 103 E. Dover Street, Easton, MD 2101.
Visit www.TalbtCountyEmptyBowls.org and like the Talbot County Empty Bowls Facebook page to learn more about how to participate in ending hunger in Talbot County.
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