MCC to Host Empty Bowls Project Benefitting Foodshare on October 19
MANCHESTER, Conn. (October 10, 2019) – Over the last 21 years the annual Empty Bowls Project at Manchester Community College has raised over $328,000 to benefit Foodshare, the regional food bank serving Hartford and Tolland counties, where 1 in 9 people struggle with hunger, including 33,000 children.
MCC faculty, staff and other volunteers are again preparing for and will host the community on Saturday, October 19, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the college’s Culinary Arts Center. Admission is $20, with a discounted price of $8 for children 10 and under. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at www.foodshare.org.
All proceeds from the Empty Bowls Project benefit Foodshare. “This event is something that we all look forward to at Foodshare,” said Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO, Foodshare. “It’s an event that we bring our family and friends to because it brings awareness to the issue of hunger and shows the impact of the communities’ support. We cannot thank MCC enough for supporting our mission and for our longstanding partnership these past 21 years.”
The Empty Bowls Project offers guests the unique opportunity to not only partake in a hearty meal featuring soups, breads, desserts and beverages served by MCC’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management students, but to select and bring home a handcrafted soup bowl, which is intended to remind people of all the empty bowls in food-insecure households across the region and around the world.
Bowls are donated by a variety of sources, including South Windsor, Conn.-based John Macomber, founder of Greenleaf Pottery, an artisan with more than 40 years’ experience and a longtime contributor of handcrafted stoneware to the MCC-hosted event. Bowls also are made and donated specifically to the event by MCC ceramics students.
They are filled at the event as a reminder that many people aren’t able to provide themselves with even a simple meal such as soup. In addition, take-home quarts of soup will be available for sale at the cost of $10, and $35 for four quarts. Hundreds of people attended last year, and that event collected over $28,000.
Foodshare is grateful for the generous support of the Platinum Sponsors of this event: Highland Park Market, SBM Charitable Foundation, Inc., Guida’s Dairy and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Also on October 19, MCC will host the 25th Global Issues Conference, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in GPA Community Commons. The topic is “Global Migration” and features a panel of experts on policies and their implications. That event is free and open to the public. Register online at www.manchestercc.edu/global-issues.
“Come for the conference and stay for the soup,” said Dr. Tanya Millner, MCC’s interim CEO. “This is an opportunity to become involved and informed both literally and symbolically in two important issues facing our community today.”
About Foodshare
Foodshare is the Feeding America food bank serving Connecticut’s Hartford and Tolland counties, where 118,000 people struggle with hunger. In partnership with the food industry, donors, community leaders and volunteers, Foodshare works to maximize access to nutritious food and other resources that support food security. Last year, Foodshare distributed more than 11 million meals worth of food to a network of nearly 300 local food pantries, meal programs, and Mobile Foodshare sites. And, because hunger is more than food, Foodshare collaborates with anti-hunger organizations, policy makers, and the broader community to build effective solutions to end hunger.
Foodshare is changing what it means to be a food bank. For more information, visit www.foodshare.org, and also on Facebook and Twitter.
