Final preparations are underway for Lincoln County’s 1st Annual Empty Bowls event to benefit Our Sisters’ House. Empty Bowls is a nationally known event where an artistic bowl is purchased along with a soup dinner to raise funds for the charity sponsoring the event.
The bowls are meant to serve as a tangible reminder that hunger (and homelessness) are a real problem in our county, country and around the world…too many bowls go unfilled at dinner time.
This inaugural Lincoln County Empty Bowls event will be held at the St. Mary’s Corpus Christi center from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20. Cost of a bowl is $10 and will include a simple dinner of soup, bread and homemade dessert. A free will offering will be accepted for dinner without a bowl.
At many Empty Bowl events, the bowls are donated by local artists, but we decided to take a different approach by having ceramic bowls painted by local youth. Over 100 bowls have already been painted for the event. The Christian education students from St. Mary’s Catholic Church and Grace Lutheran Church came together to make this happen.
“The kids did a really creative job painting the bowls and reported that they had a lot of fun doing it,” said Ann Jelinek who coordinated the effort. Bowls were also painted by the local Girl Scout Troops and students at St. Mary’s School.
“We are putting a great deal of effort into this fundraiser and hope that a successful event this year will carry through to an even bigger and better event in future years,” said Debbie Cline, who is a member of the fundraising committee for Our Sisters’ House, and is spearheading this event. “We are selecting six area restaurants to participate in the event. They will be preparing and serving their best soup in hopes of taking home the traveling Golden Ladle award and more importantly, earn bragging rights for the Best Soup in Lincoln County for the full year! We will have five celebrity judges making what is sure to be a difficult decision on who takes home the honors.”
Homemade desserts and helpers are needed for the day of the event. If you would like to donate a dessert or volunteer your services, please contact Our Sisters’ House at 715-224-3520.
Our Sisters’ House, Lincoln County’s Homeless Shelter, has been open and operating since October of last year. It can house up to 14 men, women and children at one time and has been operating at around half capacity for the majority of the past four months. The Three Rivers United Temporary Housing, Inc. (TRUTH) is the business arm that has been formed to run Our Sisters’ House in Tomahawk. The mission of TRUTH is to provide temporary housing and living essentials to those in need, in a safe environment that fosters a sense of self-worth, promotes self-sufficiency and strives for independent living.