Have Dinner, Help Feed a Family in Need

Phoenixville Area Community Services is on the front lines of the slumping economy heping families and individuals who suddenly find themselves with financial needs. Unfortunately that is happening more and more each day. Fortunately PACS is there to hep as many people as they can.  One of the group's major fundraisers is coming up in just a few weeks. It's not only a great way to treat yourself and your family to dinner, but the dinner will help others right here in Phoenixville and surrounding areas pay for food and utility bills in times of financial crisis.

The following information about the 7th Annual Empty Bowls Event on NOvember 8 comes from PACS:

Phoenixville Area Community Services will hold its 7th Annual Empty Bowls Event on Friday, November 8, from 4:30pm to 8:30pm at The Covered Bridge Room at Kimberton Fire Company. 

In 1990, a high school art teacher in Michigan helped his students search for a way to raise funds to feed hungry residents of their community.  What evolved was a class project with students crafting ceramic bowls for a fund raising meal.  Guests were served a simple meal of soup and bread and were invited to keep their bowls as a reminder of hunger in their midst and throughout the world. What one group of students began in their art class was the seed for changing many lives.  By the following year, the originators developed this concept into Empty Bowls - a project to provide support for food banks, soup kitchens, and other organizations that fight hunger.  Since then, Empty Bowls events have been held throughout the world and millions of dollars have been raised to combat hunger.

Empty Bowls has become a major fundraiser for PACS, which provides information and referral and emergency resources.  In a time when many people find themselves facing financial crises or living in very tenuous circumstances, PACS’s mission is to be the first point of contact for those seeking guidance and services to help them become financially stable, and to provide emergency resources such as food and help with utility payments.

While the first several Empty Bowls events were held at Artisans Gallery and Café in downtown Phoenixville, we have now moved to the Kimberton Fire Hall.  This provides space for families and friends to linger over their delicious soup and bread, enjoy music, and participate in a silent auction for a variety of baskets.  This year for the first time, we hope to have displays of work by several local potters.   It’s a great evening for folks of all ages, and a tremendous opportunity to help those whose own bowls might otherwise be empty.  Major contributors to the event are Artisans Gallery and Café and the Technical College High School, Pickering Campus, which provide all of the soups; and Camphill Soltane, which provides all of the homemade bread.

Tickets are $20; this year, in order to make the event more affordable for families, there is also an optional  $10 ticket for soup and bread (no bowl) for children under 12. 

Tickets may be ordered online at www.pacsphx.org or by calling PACS at 610-933-1105.