Tag: Empty Bowls

Volunteers ready to serve soup at the 2024 Empty Bowls event

Empty Bowls 2024

What is Empty Bowls?

At Empty Bowls, members of the community come together to share a simple meal of soup and bread, donated by local restaurants and organizations, to bring awareness about food insecurity while raising funds to support the Kitchen Cupboard at GBCS.

Please join us for this in-person event at Mount Anthony Union Middle School on Sunday, November 3, from 5-7pm. 100% of proceeds benefit the Kitchen Cupboard at GBCS, which helped feed 1,500 Bennington area residents last year! Ticket holders receive a bowl generously donated by a local artisan. 

You, our generous community, have consistently exceeded our expectations in giving and we are tremendously grateful. We are asking for your support – again – to help us meet our campaign goal!

Tickets

Pre-sale

Pre-sale tickets are available now through November 3 at $15/adult (16+); $10/youth (7-15); children 6 & under are free.

You can purchase tickets online by clicking the link below and then click on the button “Order Your Ticket Today” :

Purchase Pre-Sale Tickets 

You can also purchase pre-sale tickets at the following locations:

Bennington College Bookstore (Bennington)

Bennington Bookstore (Bennington)

Martin’s Mini Mart (Bennington)

Powers Market (North Bennington)

Shaftsbury Country Store (Shaftsbury)

Provisions (Williamstown, MA)

Tickets Available at the Event

Day of event tickets will be sold at the door for $20/adult (16+); $10 youth (7-15); children 6 & under free.

Donate A Ticket

This year, we are offering an option to purchase a ticket for local people who are experiencing food insecurity. If you would like to donate a ticket to a shopper at the Kitchen Cupboard, please do so by following the link below or by completing the sponsorship form to the right of this page.

Purchase A Ticket to Donate

Sponsorship

Interested in being a sponsor of the Empty Bowls event? Choose a sponsorship level using the box below. We are offering 4 sponsorship levels. Every sponsorship received by October 15, 2024 will be acknowledged publicly before and during the event. Additionally, Silver, Gold and Platinum sponsors will receive 2 complimentary tickets to the Empty Bowls event.

  • Platinum Sponsorship – $1000 or above
  • Gold Sponsorship – $500 or above
  • Silver Sponsorship – $250 or above
  • Bronze Sponsorship – $100 or above

Can’t Attend? You can still participate! 

If you have questions or want to participate in the planning of Empty Bowls, please contact us at 802-447-3700.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to support our work, we would appreciate any financial donation you could give. 

Donations can be made online, using the form to the right, or by check. Please make checks out to GBCS, include “Empty Bowls” in the memo line, and mail them to:

GBCS, Inc.
PO Box 702
Bennington, VT 05201

Thank you for your generous support! 

Why Empty Bowls

The empty bowl is a wonderful metaphorical image. In Thailand, for example, Buddhist monks and nuns have a single possession: their bowls. Each morning, they knock on doors and receive a bit of food from each house. In this way, the empty bowl represents human interdependence, the truth that we only survive by giving and receiving.

Bennington Empty Bowls’ goals are to: 

  • Increase awareness about the presence of hunger in our community
  • Raise funds for the Kitchen Cupboard food distribution program
  • Bring the community together in a creative process

Bennington, Vermont makes the empty bowl metaphor a reality by hosting its annual Empty Bowls Soup Supper. We invite the local community to gather and share delicious soup that is donated by local restuarants and chefs.

Four women around a table reaching for skewers of watermelon in Bennington, VT

What Does Food Insecurity Look Like?

For Vermonters who struggle with food insecurity, fruits and vegetables are some of the first things that go when the budget gets tight. Let’s face it, consumers get a bigger caloric bang for their buck when they purchase foods that are high in fats and calories. Because fruits and veggies are expensive, they often fall […]