By Steve Fernlund
Since 2006, the annual Empty Bowls soup dinner and lunch, along with the handmade bowl sale fundraiser, have played a crucial role in combating food insecurity in Cook County. This year, the community-focused event will take place on November 29th at Up Yonder, 1615 W Hwy 61, Grand Marais.
The simple soup lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and dinner from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Lunch and dinner on the 29th consist of soup from more than a dozen local restaurants, accompanied by a roll and water. Java Moose will provide coffee. There’s even mac and cheese for the kids. The donation for a bowl of soup is $8. Soup will also be packed in take home quarts for a $20 donation. Children are welcome; if they’re ten years old or younger, they eat for free.
Baked goods donated by residents, along with carrot cake from Crosby Bakery, will be available for sale. Custom ceramic bowls made at the Grand Marais Art Colony will be sold at prices ranging from $10 to $20. According to Beth Kennedy, a board member of Empty Bowls, guests may expect the bowls and baked goods to be half off after 6 p.m.
The leadership of Empty Bowls wants people to know that for some of our neighbors, a bowl of soup might be all they have to eat in a day.
Highlighting the issue of food in security, the month-long shutdown of the Federal Government means that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not be issued for November. Also, federal funding for the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) benefits will not be forth coming. The SNAP and MFIP pro grams provide critical support to eligible households with lower in comes that face food insecurity.
Combined, SNAP and MFIP serve an average of 235 people in Cook County each month with food benefit amounts ranging from $23 to $1,158, depending on income and household size. According to Cook County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS), the aver age monthly food benefit per participant is $154. Each month, benefits through SNAP and MFIP programs distribute $36,253 to Cook County community members, money that is generally spent at local grocery retailers.
In response, PHHS is organizing and hosting a food drive at the Cook County Courthouse, publishing up to-date information on local food resources, and providing gift cards to Ruby’s Pantry and local grocery stores, made possible by donations from Empty Bowls, local community members, and local businesses.
PHHS staff are seeking creative ways to help support the food needs of the community members. “While these efforts cannot fully replace the amount of food assistance dol lars provided through federally funded programs like SNAP and MFIP, we as a county public health and human services agency want to do what we can to help fill the gaps so that no one experiences the pain of hunger or the need to choose between paying for food and other essentials like housing, transportation, or utility costs,” says Plamen Dimitrov, PHHS Interim Director.
From now through the end of the year, PHHS will have a food drive set up in the lobby of the Cook County Courthouse. There are several bins, each labeled for a specific type of item (canned goods, cereal, household goods, etc.). The system is essentially “self-serve,” meaning that individuals can donate un opened, non-expired, non-perish able food items to the appropriate bin. Those in need may take items that they need.
The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as the lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecurity is associated with numerous adverse social and health outcomes and is increasingly considered a critical public health issue.
According to the non-profit Feeding America, roughly ten percent of Cook County’s population is classified as food insecure. Almost half of them are above the federal SNAP threshold for receiving benefits. Beth Kennedy emphasized the urgency of the situation, saying, “We try to make the whole community aware that people are suffering (with food insecurity) in Cook County.”
In the past year, the Empty Bowls effort raised $132,000 and made grants of up to $5,000 to each of 30 local groups that re quested food assistance. This significant contribution, all devoted to food relief efforts, is a testament to the power of community support.
The 30 recipients of Empty Bowls grants represent a diverse group of community service organizations, each with a unique approach to addressing food insecurity.
Grocery store gift cards are purchased by Empty Bowls and distributed to the PHHS and the Violence Prevention Center to as sist people in times of emergency.
Operation Family Christmas, which collects and distributes Christmas gifts to numerous families in the county, has received a $5,000 grant for grocery gift certificates to help brighten the holidays for those struggling to afford enough food.
According to Kennedy, the board hopes to raise $150,000 this year. This year, the Charles and Andriene Johnson Foundation donated $50,000. The generous support of numerous business sponsors, individual sponsors, and table sponsors contributed to the cause.
One of this year’s sponsors, CCREF Hwy 61 LLC, which owns the newly built Heights-Bluffs apartment complex next to Up Yon der, will be giving tours of the new building.
In addition to Beth Kennedy, the five-person volunteer board members include Donna Lunke, Bobby Collins, Andrea Orest, and Laura Nelson. The hardworking board members look forward to seeing you at Up Yonder on the 29th. They also need volunteers to help with the housekeeping. Contact Beth by phone at 218-370-1281 or email at bkennedy@boreal.org if you can help.
If you can’t attend but would like to donate to Empty Bowls Cook County, you can visit the website at EmptyBowlsCookCounty.org, its Facebook page, or mail a check to Empty Bowls, PO Box 294, Grand Marais, MN 55604.
