Empty Bowls fundraiser helps support food bank in Lake Stevens

Published 1:30 am Friday, October 28, 2016

LAKE STEVENS — The ceramic bowls came in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They lined a table in the Lake Stevens Calvary Chapel. Guests perused the options Saturday afternoon, debating which keepsake bowl they wanted to take home. Each was crafted by a local potter. A shallow bowl decorated with red hearts sat next to a tall, narrow bowl painted robin’s egg blue. One had a rough sketch of the Seattle skyline. Another was painted with the shades of a summer sunset.

Beth Scruggs, of Lake Stevens, examined every bowl, looking for the perfect two to take home as gifts for her college-age daughters.

“They definitely have different personalities,” she said, holding up one big, brightly colored bowl and another smaller, simpler one.

She was one of about 100 people who attended the first Empty Bowls event in Lake Stevens.

Empty Bowls is a national fundraising program that can be used to support any local food bank. Artists or students donate handcrafted bowls and businesses donate soup and bread. People give money to the food bank in return for lunch and a one-of-a-kind bowl.

Lake Stevens Ankle and Foot Clinic put together the fundraiser with help from more than 20 other businesses. Event organizer Nancy Novak had hoped to see 300 people at the first event, but knows it takes time for something new to catch on. She aims to have a second Empty Bowls fundraiser next year and draw many more people.

This year’s effort brought in $2,500 for the Lake Stevens Food Bank.

“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” Scruggs said. “You’re helping a good cause and getting a unique twist to it with the bowls.”

The fundraiser came at a time when the food bank needs additional support, director Anne Anderson said. County Market, which previously provided the food bank with about a third of its total food and at least 70 percent of its meat, went out of business over the summer.

“Last Thursday, we had a conversation about whether we even had enough meat to give out to everybody,” Anderson said.

They served 130 families that day. A woman called and asked what they needed most, then came and dropped off several hundred pounds of meat right before Anderson opened the doors for distribution. That generosity got them through another week, she said.

The food bank also is raising money to build a new, larger space. Volunteers currently work from the basement of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, but space is tight and the community is growing. The food bank has purchased a piece of land next to the church. The goal is to raise $900,000 to build there. The food bank is about a third of the way to that goal in cash donations and has other in-kind contributions, such as pledges to buy refrigerators or install cabinets, Anderson said.

“We’re doing what we can and we’ll continue to do what we can,” she said. “This community has absolutely come together.”

For more information about the Lake Stevens Food Bank, including how to donate, go to lakestevensfoodbank.org

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.