The annual Empty Bowls fundraiser for Ozarks Food Harvest is Thursday, October 2, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Panera Bread, 4100 S. Campbell, and those who attend can purchase bowls made by local artists.
Those artists create and donate over 200 bowls each year that the community can purchase online and in-person, according to Sarah Green, marketing and events manager for Ozarks Food Harvest.
"We've got anything from wood to ceramic as far as the bowls go," said Green. "We have artists ranging from students to professionals to artists that are just getting started."
The first 250 people who purchase an item online or in person will receive free soup and bread from Panera.
The empty bowls symbolize the many children who face hunger every day in southwest Missouri.
Funds from the purchase of the bowls go to the food bank’s Weekend Backpack Program, which provides food to thousands of children in 60 schools and 15 counties every weekend during the school year. Kids can take a backpack home from school, so they have access to healthy meals and snacks on weekends.
"One in five kids in southwest Missouri is facing hunger," said Green. "So, you know, oftentimes the only meals they're receiving are the meals that they're getting at school, so the Weekend Backpack Program really helps bridge that gap between Friday lunch and breakfast on Monday."
Nearly 1,700 children in 59 schools across the Ozarks benefit from the program that began in 2003, according to Ozarks Food Harvest.
Ozarks Food Harvest serves 270 hunger relief organizations across 21 Ozarks counties.
