Donations

Since Empty Bowls in Perth began in 2002, more than 6,000 handmade bowls have been exchanged for donations totaling more than $110,000. Donations have increased but then so has the need. This March The Ontario Association of Food Banks identified a whopping 400,000 people, about 40% of them children, who access Ontario food banks every month. (OAFB Report: Running on Empty, 2011)

But here’s some good news – the staff at the local Scotiabank in Perth have volunteered to manage the booth this year at the Festival of the Maples and to match donations, dollar for dollar, up to $5,000 !

If you can’t make it to our events in April and at Thanksgiving, bowls are available year round at Riverguild Fine Crafts in Perth. If you live far away and would like to donate you can do so but only by cheque – which, if dated April 30^th and received by then, will be matched by Scotiabank!

To read more about donations click the “Donate” link below.

On this website you will find lots of information about  Empty Bowls, including a profile on each of the five food programs we support.  About 80% of the donations stay within the immediate community in and around Perth. That includes the Perth Food Bank, the supper program at the YAK Youth Centre, and a school breakfast program called Food For Thought.

The remaining 20% of funding goes to two remote groups with strong ties to Perth. You can read all about them by clicking on these links:  The Guatemala Stove Project  and The Lieutenant Governor’s Aboriginal Summer Literacy Camps

Empty Bowls is a partnership of volunteers. We get help from high school students doing community hours, from local potters and students from Sheridan College (as you can see in the photo above), from local businesses, and of course from the chefs and restaurateurs of Perth. I don’t know who said this but how true it is:

“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections occasionally

but when you volunteer, you vote everyday about the kind of community you want to live in.”

RECENT ACTIVITIES: 2010

In 2010  Empty Bowls distributed $17,000 to 5 food security programs.
For details about these programs and our activities in 2010 …

Watch the CTV video about Empty Bowls in Perth

Donations