GRASS VALLEY, Calif. March 6, 2017 – Dozens of artists create beautifully handcrafted bowls to be filled with homemade soup for the Hospitality House Empty Bowl benefit, slated this year for Saturday, April 1, 2017.
Sharing a simple meal of soup and bread is an opportunity for our community to express its compassion for those who are homeless and hungry. Lunch is served noon-2 pm and dinner is served 5-7 pm at Peace Lutheran Church, 828 West Main Street in Grass Valley. Tickets cost $25 and are available at Bread & Roses Thrift, BriarPatch Community Co-Op, online at hhshelter.org, and at the door. Children under 12 will be admitted free (but will be eligible to receive a bowl only with a paid ticket).
“I have 12 bowls from years of attending the warmest friendly gathering on my calendar. It is the best day of the year with bowls made with love and people gathering in love. I see everyone know, yet if I show up and sit at any table, and don’t know any, I leave having gained new friends of like-minded givers,” explains KVMR DJ Jerianne VanDijk.
Renowned artists Dik Hotchkiss, Chic Lotz and Paul Steeg will donate soup bowls and items for the silent auction, which features larger ceramic and wooden bowls; while a New Moon Restaurant gift certificate will be the prize for a lucky raffle winner.
As always, local chefs will contribute a large variety of delicious soups like chicken curry rice, asparagus, Zuppa Toscana, chicken tortilla, three-bean chili and artisan breads. Hospitality House Serves, the culinary skills training class for guests at Hospitality House, will also offer soup created in the kitchen at Utah’s Place.
Two generous donors will match all contributions made at the event up to $2500. This means that people can triple the money they donate: a $20 donation will bring $60 to Hospitality House—or a $100 donation will bring $300.
Music is always a part of the Empty Bowl experience. This year it will be presented by harpist Lisa Stine and fiddler Gale Peach (noon to 1:30); and the Heather MacAdam Trio which includes Heather MacAdam on guitar and vocals, Phyllis Grant on flute and Joe Thayer on bass (5:00 to 6:30).
Additional support for Empty Bowl comes from sponsors Telestream; SPD Markets; Northern California Mortgage; Peters Well Drilling; Port Of Subs; Volz Bros.; KNCO; KVMR; Nevada County Realtors Association; Peace Lutheran Church and YubaNet and The Union.
About Hospitality House: Founded in 2005, Hospitality House is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit community shelter for the homeless in Nevada County. The year-round shelter is a no tolerance safe haven, offering three meals per day. In 2015, Hospitality House sheltered 449 individual men, women, and children, provided a total of 57,387 meals, and helped 100 people into homes of their own. hhshelter.org.