Imagine not knowing where your next meal is coming from. That’s the case for the more than 770,000 people who face hunger in the Metro Detroit region; half of those are children or seniors.
On Wednesday, the Marlene Boll theater and lobby space of the Boll Family YMCA will host their fourth annual Empty Bowls fundraiser to bring attention to the problem of hunger in our community and raise funds to help combat it.
Empty Bowls is a national movement started by the Imagine/RENDER group. A group organizes an event –usually a soup luncheon or dinner– and professional or amateur potters donate bowls to the event. Local restaurants or volunteer cooks generally provide the soup. Participants purchase a bowl of soup and get to take the handcrafted bowl with them, as a reminder of the people who frequently face “empty bowls” at mealtime. Proceeds go to fight hunger in the local community.
For the YMCA event, the bowls have been made by ACE Academy, a “strict discipline” charter school for court-adjudicated youth ages 12 to 20, located in Highland Park. This allows these young people to experience doing something good for others through the arts and their own effort and creativity. Students at ACE Academy also participate in improv classes taught by the Y-Arts program through the Detroit Creativity Project.
Proceeds from the Y’s Empty Bowls event will benefit Gleaners Community Food Bank.
A $10 donation buys participants a delicious bowl of soup (several kinds will be available), refreshments, and a bowl made by the students of ACE Academy. There will be a display of students’ art work and a presentation in the theater. The Empty Bowls event runs from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 pm on Wednesday, February 13. Sounds like a lovely pre-Valentine’s Day date!