Fill an empty bowl and fill a food pantry at the fourth annual “Empty Bowls” fundraiser, which is set for March 23 at The Peddie School’s cafeteria in Hightstown Borough.
The event, which will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., is the brainchild of Cultural Arts Commission Chairman Ann Marie Miller and Vice Chairman Adam Welch. Tickets for the event cost $35, and entitle participants to select a one-of-a-kind bowl and fill it with a hot meal from one of nearly a dozen eateries.
The private school’s campus is located at 201 S. Main St., Hightstown Borough.
Proceeds will benefit the food pantry at RISE, the “Send Hunger Packing” initiative through Mercer Street Friends, the Better Beginnings child care center and to also help support the Hightstown Cultural Arts Commission and its public art programs.
The fundraiser has generated more than $36,000 over the past three years to help relieve hunger and to support the arts commission.
The venue has changed from year to year, starting out at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5700 in Hightstown, and then moving to the ballroom at Hightstown Engine Co. No. 1, before settling at The Peddie School. A student suggested it to school officials, who agreed to serve as the host to the event.
“We are delighted to partner for the second year with The Peddie School and we look forward to another sold-out community dinner,” Miller said.
The idea for “Empty Bowls” came up at an arts commission meeting. Miller and Welch were aware of similar “empty bowl” fundraisers that have taken place elsewhere in the United States.
“Adam is a ceramic artist and we both loved the idea of the arts helping to relieve hunger,” Miller said.
The “Empty Bowls” fundraiser has grown since its beginning in 2016, when Welch made 200 stoneware bowls. This year, he is planning to create 300 bowls, along with 100 bowls made by Hightstown High School students.
At the event, the bowls will be filled with hot meals from restaurants that include 12 Farms, 4 Seasons Cafe and Deli, the Americana Kitchen and Bar, Fernando’s Grille, the Hightstown Diner, Mannino’s 4, Morgan’s Island Grill, Pompier Catering, Tacorito and Tavern on the Lake.
Tickets may be purchased online at https:/www.eventbrite.com/e/empty-bowls-2019-in-hightstown-tickets-54813498650?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.
