Empty Bowls 2023
Empty Bowls is back!
At Empty Bowls, members of the community come together to share a simple meal of soup and bread, donated by local restaurants and organizations, in solidarity with local people who are experiencing food insecurity.
Please join us for this in-person event at Mount Anthony Union Middle School on Sunday, November 5, from 5-7pm. 100% of proceeds benefit the Kitchen Cupboard at GBCS, which helped feed 1,500 Bennington area residents last year! Each ticket holder will receive a gift 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 tickets are available now through November 4 at $10/adult (16+); $5/youth (7-15); children 6 & under are free. Please reserve your ticket(s) by clicking the link below and then the “get tickets” button:
Pre-Sale Tickets
Day of event tickets will be sold at the door for $15/adult (16+); $5 youth (7-15); children 6 & under free.
Donate A Ticket to a Neighbor in Need
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 neighbor in need, please do so by following the link below and click on the ticket button.
Donate A Ticket
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, 2023 will be acknowledged publicly before and during the event. Additionally, all sponsorships 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.
We are excited to return to an in-person event this year, but if you are unable to attend, 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. At our most recent in-person gathering in 2019, this event involved more than 1000 people!