BUTTE - Around 1,000 bowls were handcrafted in Butte by local artists, and when you purchase one of them at the annual "Empty Bowls" fundraiser, it’s going to fill the bellies of hungry students by funding the backpack program.
“It’s so important because we don’t want the children to be hungry. A lot of these children get their breakfast and their lunch at school, but a lot of them don’t have anything to eat over the weekend,” said Empty Bowls Chair Margie Michelotti.
Butte’s Empty Bowls fundraiser at the Butte Civic Center raises money for the backpack program that gives students in need a pack of food to eat over the weekend. For the past 10 years, Empty Bowls has been funding this program. Each person who purchases a ticket to Empty Bowls gets a free bowl that was made earlier this year by local artists.
“I think they look wonderful, I don’t think there’s a bad bowl here. I think they’re great,” said Michelotti.
Inflation has made this year’s fundraiser even more important.
“We need to raise a lot of money. Our prices went from $3.75 for a bag for the weekend for the kids to $6.37, so we really have to hit it hard this year,” said Butte Emergency Food Bank CEO Kathy Griffith.
Guests at the Empty Bowls event will also get free soup to fill their bowls from 35 vendors and restaurants in Butte, while they enjoy music. Organizers say this is a very popular social event.
“We’re helping the children of Butte and we’re getting people together, so it’s a win-win situation,” said Michelotti.
