The annual event helps the charity fulfill its vision to stamp-out hunger in East Hillsborough County.
Don’t miss out on the twelfth annual Empty Bowls Project being held this Saturday from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at The Robert Willaford Railroad Museum and McCall Park, where hungry people will gather to pick out a hand-crafted bowl made by local schoolchildren and share a meal together to promote hunger awareness while benefitting The United Food Bank of Plant City.
Some event attendees will work up an appetite running in The Fork Ran Away with The Spoon 5k kick-off event that starts at 7 a.m. and takes racers through the streets of downtown Plant City.
Twenty chefs will be serving up dozens of different types of tasty soup so there’s sure to be a soup to satisfy every palate. Event entertainment will include Ace Jackson and the Jump King, saxophonist Larry Clarke and the Plant City Community Chorale.
Art teacher and professional street painter Leigh Alfredson hosted a workshop last month to teach budding artists how to create pastel chalk masterpieces which they will design on the sidewalk during the event. Three-dimensional street painter Janet Tombros will also be creating a design on the sidewalk the day of the event.
There will be a live auction starting at 10:30 a.m. of artist-painted bowls created by several local artists, including the 2022 Florida Strawberry Festival Queen and Court, Josie Azorin, Gerri Baldridge, Mar Harrer and Melissa Hart. A second live-auction beginning at 11:30 a.m. feature bowls created by LMPC and court members, Colleen Justin, Angie Klein, Lesli Platt and a community bowl that was designed at last year’s event.
“We expect to feed between 600 and 700 people this weekend,” said United Food Bank of Plant City director Mary Heysek.
The proceeds from the event are expected to total approximately $25,000 which will go a long way to helping Heysek and her team with its mission of feeding local residents struggling with food insecurity. The Food Bank typically feeds approximately 11,000 people a month.
For Food Bank board member Silvia Dodson, the mission of the charity is dear to her heart. She and her family immigrated from Cuba in 1963 with nothing but the clothes on their backs and recollects relying on assistance from Catholic charities and a food bank. Knowing first-hand what a lifeline a food bank provides, she pays it forward by sacrificing her time and resources to help others. “I feel like it’s important to give back,” she said. “This event is a wonderful way to bring awareness to the issue of hunger and all the empty bowls that don’t get filled every day.”
Tickets can be purchased the day of the event and cost $10 per person. For more information about Empty Bowls Project visit www.ufbpc.org.
