Daytona Beach, FL - An event that supports food-related charitable organizations around the world takes place on Saturday at Hope Place. The money raised supports Halifax Urban Ministries Feed A Family and Bridge of Hope programs.
HUM Executive Director Buck James said that this is the 13th year that they are holding the event. It started in 1990 in a small town in Michigan by an art teacher who wanted his students to take part in a food drive. He came up with the concept of having the students make the bowls and invite school staff to soup lunch where they would ask for donations for the food drive. After the lunch, they offered the guests the opportunity to take the bowls with them as a reminder of those who are hungry in the world. Since then, James said there are Empty Bowl events in every state in the country and millions of dollars raised to feed the hungry.
The Feed A Family program provides a 32-pound bag of groceries monthly through nine pantries in Volusia County for families in need. James said each year, they distribute more than 500 tons of food to the community. He said they consider this program as the first line of defense to prevent homelessness as it frees up a little money for families to pay for other necessities.
There's also the Bridge of Hope, a hot meal program that provides hot lunches 363 days each year for the homeless. James said they are also serving the working poor so that they can get a meal of nutritious food. He said they served more than 80,000 meals last year.
James said this event gives people in the community the chance to see what HUM is doing. They have 26 rooms for emergency housing for families with children, nine apartments for families with children, and 32 beds for unaccompanied youth, ages 18 through 24, who have no family support.
The bowls are produced by Volusia County School students. This year it's all being coordinated by ArtHaus. James says they worked with VCS art departments to get the bowls made.
The event is held in the cafeteria. The bowls are laid out on the stage and sorted by which school they came from. You can choose the bowl you want. James said disposable inserts are available so you don't have to worry about rinsing between soups.
James says this year, ten area restaurants are taking part and you can try every one of them. Salad and breadsticks will be provided by Olive Garden. There's also a silent auction and entertainment.
There are three seatings but the 11 a.m. is already sold out. You can still get tickets for the noon and 1 p.m. seatings by visiting the HUM website or you can pay at the door. The cost is $25 and you get to keep the bowl.
