Empty Bowls Luncheon
March 4, 2020
11 am — 1 pm
Tupelo Furniture Market
Building 5
The Salvation Army’s Empty Bowls luncheon will be serving up soup and bread for the soul for the 22nd year in a row at their fundraising benefit event at the Tupelo Furniture Market on March 4 at 11 a.m.
The event started based on the concept that most hungry people could only get a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and some water.
“People ask, ‘Why only soup, bread, water, and a pottery bowl?’ This is a luncheon fundraiser to bring awareness to the hunger right here in our community. This is usually more food than most hungry people and children get in a day.”
The Salvation Army in Tupelo served over 123,729 meals in the last program year (Oct. 2018 through Sept 2019). That might sound like a lot for this area, but this number is actually much lower than usual due to having no kitchen during their recent campus renovations. Many people in Tupelo partake of our Salvation Army’s varios meal programs, in addition to area homeless.
The Empty Bowls Luncheon benefits the funding of Tupelo’s Salvation Army food programs, such as the regular lunch line held five times per week to feed the homeless, the unemployed, and struggling.
Other food programs funded by Empty Bowls include groceries packed daily for the needy, three daily meals per person at The Salvation Army homeless shelter, and two Meals on Wheels routes that run five days per week.
“We have a lunch line five days a week, which anyone can come eat at — and it’s not necessarily all the homeless. It’s also people who have a job, but can’t afford to go out and buy or fix lunch every day.”
Last year, the Empty Bowls event raised $43,500 at the Empty Bowls event to donate to the Salvation Army’s food programs.
Local potters like MidNite Pottery, Michael Ashley of Ashley Pottery, Lynn Barnwell of Hinkle Creek Pottery, Antoinette Badenhorst and Harry McBride have donated around 300 bowls.
The Mud Ladies made around 2,000 handmade bowls for the event, and the 4-H Club from Louisville will also be donating some as well!
Women’s Auxiliary introduced a new activity at the event last year and it will have it again this year: the “Bowl Bid” which is a silent auction of bowls of goods donated by area businesses.
In addition to the luncheon, there will also be sales tables full of items made by the Mud Ladies, as well as several area potters who will also have booths set up with a portion of their proceeds being donated to the funds raised. There will also be a bake sale.
The Salvation Army’s Canteen Food Truck will be stationed in front of City Hall from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. to bring the Luncheon to those who may not be able to attend the Furniture Market event. As with the main luncheon event, $15 at the Canteen Food Truck will get you soup, bread, water, and a souvenir pottery bowl to keep, and they will also be selling bake sale items from the truck as well.
This is volunteer Kristi Hillhouse’s third year as chair of the event, although she has been a volunteer for seven years.
“Everybody knows Salvation Army helps the homeless, but if there are disasters, we’re able to go out there with the Canteen Truck as well. Sometimes it’s hard for people to go downtown to get out to the Furniture Market, so we thought it would be a great idea to provide soup to people downtown and make people aware of some of the other services we’ve got,” Hillhouse said.
Tickets are $15 for adults to receive soup, a piece of bread, and a handmade souvenir pottery bowl.
Ticket Locations:
Wayfil Jewelry
Stones Jewelry
Tupelo Trophy & Gifts
Midnite Pottery
Avonlea
Joyful Creations
Room to Room Furniture
Reed’s Gumtree Book Store
Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary member
Please join us to help feed the hungry in our community! Your corporate or personal sponsorship will make a difference.
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