The Hopewell Borough Council of Churches has organized a benefit dinner to raise funds for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
On April 27, the “Empty Bowls” benefit dinner will be held at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, which is located at 80 W. Broad St.
“This is the first year we have held this event,” said the Rev. Laura Steele, pastor of the Hopewell United Methodist Church. “The Hopewell Borough Council of Churches clergy decided that during Lent, the mission would be to focus on hunger. We thought that with this event we would culminate this Lent season by raising awareness about hunger and homelessness.”
Steele said the Hopewell Borough Council of Churches is made up of the Hopewell United Methodist Church, the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, the Calvary Baptist Church, the Second Calvary Baptist Church and St. Alphonse Roman Catholic Church.
The mission of the council is to feed those who are hungry in the Trenton area and to offer programs to encourage self-sufficiency and improve an individual’s quality of life, according to the organization’s website.
“The most meaningful component about this dinner for me as a spiritual leader is that we continue to remind each other we are called to have deep meaningful relationships with each other. There is a call to helping each other and that is what this event does for us,” Steele said.
The dinner will consist of soup, bread and dessert. Steele said the soup will be served in a ceramic bowl and those who attend will be able to keep the bowl.
“The bowls are created by local artists who are donating them. Most of the bowls used during the dinner are donated,” she said.
Steele said even though the April 27 dinner will help people in Trenton, residents in Hopewell Borough may not be aware some people in their own community go to sleep hungry.
“A lot of people do not realize there is a need even in this area. I want people to take away from this dinner the idea of awareness; awareness there are people dealing with hunger and it is a major issue,” she said.
The cost to attend the April 27 dinner is $35 for adults, $20 for children 12 and under, and free for children 3 and under. For more information, email connect@hopewellmethodist.org
