By Darlene Brace
The holiday season is now upon us. As we make our holiday grocery shopping and Christmas gift lists, let’s not forget that there are people that are less fortunate. Some people experience food insecurity and just having basic necessities would be the greatest gifts. Here is how you can help others with a small donation.
To help support these people in the community, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Jamestown Public Mobile Market are collaborating with Chautauqua County Empty Bowls for the Third Annual Empty Bowls Project in Jamestown. This event will be held at St. Luke’s Church at 408 N. Main Street in Jamestown on December 7th from 11am to 2pm.
The Empty Bowls Project is a fundraising event. Professional artisans, students, and other residents from across the county generously donate a variety of handcrafted one-of-a-kind pottery such as bowls and mugs. Each piece donated will have the Empty Bowls logo imprinted on the bottom, to remind people of the hunger issue locally and globally. This beautiful rainbow display of bowls of various sizes and shapes will fill the undercroft of the church that has been renovated and is a great space for this event.
Admission to the event is free, and for a small donation, you will receive a donated bowl of your choice. You can have the bowl(s) wrapped at the event if you want to use them for the perfect Christmas gift, or you can choose to have your bowl filled with soup for free and will be served with bread for your lunch that day. The delicious soups this year are being donated by Asheville General Store, Labyrinth Press Company, and other generous community members.
Last year, the Empty Bowls Project in Jamestown had over three hundred people in attendance, and it raised almost $16,000. Most of the proceeds were donated to help supply The Jamestown Public Mobile Market. This mobile market is similar to a food truck that brings food to local food deserts. Food deserts are areas that have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables as well as other nutritious and affordable food within walking distance. The mobile market provides a plentiful supply of fresh fruits and vegetables year-round to those in need. Proceeds this year will continue to support the Jamestown Mobile Market as well as to Saint Susan’s Food Kitchen Center on Water Street in Jamestown for emergency food assistance.
In addition, families that are on the SNAP food program can use their SNAP benefits at the mobile market. In fact, because of a New York State Farmer’s Market promotion, they are able to double the value of their SNAP dollar’s value for local fresh produce.
This Empty Bowls Project didn’t start in Jamestown. In fact, the first Empty Bowls Project started in Michigan in the 1990’s. Since then, this project idea has spread across the country as well as internationally in various forms.
Luke Fodor, the Rector of St. Luke’s Church, said that the Empty Bowls Project in the Dunkirk/Fredonia area has been supporting their community with this project for almost twenty years. In 2022, as an extension of the project in Fredonia, the Empty Bowls Project came to Jamestown and has been very successful.
It is the hope that each year this project will become bigger and better, by increasing the number of bowls donated as well as more volunteers and attendees. If you want more information about the Empty Bowls Project in Jamestown, you can go to stlukesjamestown.org or Empty Bowls Fundraiser and Lunch on Facebook. To donate bowls or soup, or if you are interested in volunteering, you can call St. Luke’s Church at 716-483- 6405.
There are many other holiday festivities going on in the area on December 7th, but please consider spending even just a few minutes of your time attending the Empty Bowls Project at St. Luke’s Church. You can get some of your Christmas shopping done, or just go in and join them for a delicious and affordable lunch while helping support this worthy cause.
Remember that The Empty Bowls Project is a full circle community event. The generosity of the artists, volunteers, and attendees show how little acts of kindness and generosity can fill the bowls of many, especially during the holiday season when everyone deserves to have a full bowl.