A local food bank is selling handcrafted bowls to fund a program that ensures kids stay fed when they’re not in school.
Ozarks Food Harvest and Panera Bread is hosting its 11th Empty Bowls fundraiser through Oct. 3, which will benefit the Ozarks Food Harvest’s Weekend Backpack program.
Participants can purchase bowls made by local artists online at hungeractionmonth.info through Oct. 2. They can also purchase bowls in-person from 3 to 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Panera Bread at 4100 S. Campbell Ave. The first 250 donors online and at the in-person event will receive a coupon for a free meal of soup and bread at Panera.
Proceeds from the bowl sales will go toward the Weekend Backpack program, which provides nearly 1,700 kids with weekend meals across 15 counties in southwest Missouri. The program ensures that children are able to eat over the weekend, since some may rely on meals at school. According to Ozarks Food Harvest, one in five children in southwest Missouri face hunger.
“The empty bowls serve as a reminder for the children facing hunger in our community and across southwest Missouri,” said Bart Brown, Ozarks Food Harvest’s president and CEO, in a press release. “When you purchase a bowl, you’re helping ‘Transform Hunger into Hope’ as every dollar goes directly to providing a meal to a child in need.”