Author: jay

Thank you to the potters, cooks, volunteers, and participants. Empty Bowls 2021 is a wrap!

Keep an eye on our Facebook page and here for more events and news.

There will be a limited number of tickets available at the event. They will be available first-come, first-served.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday between 11am and 3pm where you can pick up your homemade soup and pick out your handcrafted bowl.

The Moose Hall is located at 434 Fort William Road. Please consider travelling south down Fort William Road (this is the section that runs past the Wholesale Club and Push Athletics), allowing you to turn right into the parking lot at the northeast corner of the building.  Click here for a map.

Once you enter the parking lot at the northeast corner of the building (the right side if you are facing the building) you will pick up your soup and the ticket you will use to claim your bowl(s). Please follow the queue by staying to the right of the pylons that mark the route through the lot. 

Bowl cozies are once again for sale – $10 each. A great gift, these quilted items serve as a bowl shaped hot pad that allows you to heat up a bowl in a microwave and transport it safely without burning your fingers. They are made with 100% cotton materials so they will not melt in the microwave like fabrics with synthetic polyester. 

This year’s event will also feature a 50/50 raffle and tickets are $20 each.

We may have extra Fall Vegetable Quinoa soup available for a donation so if you are interested, please ask!
Cash is preferred as it helps make the process efficient – but if you forget cash, we also accept debit and credit cards.
Donations of non-perishable food for the Shelter House pantry will be accepted with gratitude – the requested items include peanut butter, jam, cans of tomatoes/tomato sauce, cans of beans, as well as coffee and sugar.

Thank you for supporting this year’s Empty Bowls Caring Hearts drive through event #2 – we are so excited that because of the generosity of our sponsors, volunteers and partners this year, you get soup!  

We hope to see you “back inside” in 2022!

Our online store is live!

You can visit https://emptybowls-thunderbay.square.site/ to order your ticket, and choose which kind of soup you would like, or get your empty bowl without soup.

tickets on sale soon

Our 2020 drive-through event was a great success, thank you to everyone who supported it.

We will be keeping busy raising money for Shelter House and the Thunder Bay Food Bank, so please check back regularly, or follow us on Facebook.

Our 2021 event will be happening October 16th, where we are looking to bring the soup back.

Empty Bowls is Back – November 7, 2020

Buy your ticket now by visiting our online store https://emptybowls-thunderbay.square.site/ 

Limited tickets are available by phone – call the Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship at 344-5980.

We won’t be able to serve you a bowl of soup, but we still have the bowls and this year they really are empty. We are so grateful to the potters for continuing to create and share their talents with the community, all for an important cause.

In lieu of our regular dinner, we are asking our community to buy a ticket, generously give the meal to someone in need, and take home an empty bowl as a reminder of those who are struggling in our community.

Ticket holders can pick up their locally crafted bowl from the parking lot of the Moose Hall on Saturday, November 7th between 11am and 4pm. 

Though the pandemic has disrupted our event, the need is as great as ever. There are fewer volunteers and higher expenses because of COVID-19. The funds raised from this event will help our charities continue their work.

Due to the ongoing pandemic and the restrictions related to gathering indoors, the Empty Bowls Caring Hearts fundraiser , featuring soups from local chefs and handmade bowls from local potters. will not be held in 2020 for the first time in 20 years. 

In the hope of continuing to support Shelter House and the Thunder Bay Food Bank, the organizing committee will be looking at alternative fundraising activities during the fall and winter. Our volunteers are excited about the opportunity to follow the lead of other local organizations and explore virtual events to not only raise necessary funds, but also reach people with important messages about food insecurity in our community.

The committee is enthusiastic about returning to our regular model as soon as it is safe to do so.

In the meantime, please stay tuned to hear details of our fundraisers; visit our website at emptybowlsthunderbay.com or follow us on Facebook (emptybowlstbay). 

 If you would like to help immediately, donations can be made through directly to Shelter House and the Thunder Bay Food Bank through canadahelps.org, allowing you to donate securely online and receive a charitable income receipt immediately.

For more information, please contact:

Jay Stapleton, co-chair at jay@jaystapleton.ca