III.1. Update on the 19th Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser; Palm/Saldhana (Memo)
CITY OF HOPKINS
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
From: Mike Mornson, City Manager
Date: February 7, 2017
Subject: Update on the 19th Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser
_____________________________________________________________________
Tarrah Palm, Executive Director at Resource W est and Amy Saldhana, Empty Bowls
Community Chair will provide an update on the 19th Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser for
ICA Food Shelf and ResourceWest.
City Manager
19th Annual Fundraiser for ICA Food Shelf & ResourceWest
March 7, 2017 • 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Hopkins Center for the Arts
1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins
To: All Members of Our Community
From: 2017 Community Co-Chairs
Amy Saldanha Ron Kamps
Founder& CEO, Kiddywampus Community Leader
ResourceWest Board Member ICA Board Member
Subject: Help raise $80,000 to “fill the empty bowls” of our neighbors in need
What is Empty Bowls?
Fueled by a passion for creativity and a desire to help our neighbors in need, Hopkins Public Schools art teachers
and leaders at Hopkins Community Education founded our local Empty Bowls fundraiser. Since 1999, art students
and community potters have created hundreds of unique soup bowls for the event benefitting ResourceWest and
ICA Food Shelf. Over the past 18 years, the event has raised $1010009 in support of our neighbors in need. The
19th annual fundraiser on March 7 marks an important milestone in the history of Empty Bowls.
Our fundraising goal this year is $80,000 – reaching a 19-year total of over $1.1 million!
Are there “empty bowls” in our community?
Our local community support agencies provide much more than food for our neighbors in need.
• ICA Food Shelf serves the seven communities in and around Hopkins and Minnetonka. The food shelf provides
food, financial and homelessness prevention services, and employment assistance to over 850 households that
use ICA’s programs each month. In 2016, more than 1.47 million pounds of food were distributed through the
choice-based model food shelf. It also provides Hopkins and Minnetonka schools with weekend food and snack
programs for students in need. The mobile food shelf program helps over 300 neighbors with physical limitations
receive fresh food each week.
• ResourceWest, located in downtown Hopkins, works to connect and stabilize individuals and families in the
west metro through social services, youth programs, and on site collaborative programs. Each year
ResourceWest makes over 10,000 resource connections for people seeking food, housing, healthcare, jobs,
education, transportation and more. In 2016, ResourceWest provided over 1,200 children with school supplies,
winter warm wear, and holiday gifts. The social services program provided 36 financial grants for car repairs,
prescriptions, and childcare. And over 800 households in crisis caused by homelessness, sudden loss of
income, health issues, or transportation issues were provided with short-term case management assistance.
How can I help “fill the empty bowls?”
• Invite family & friends to join you at the event on March 7: choose your favorite free bowl, enjoy a free meal of
soup & bread and entertainment, and make a generous free will donation.
• Be a sponsor in the Challenge! You decide your sponsorship level, and be recognized on all
print materials at the event. Sponsors of $250 or more will have their logo or name prominently displayed.
• Make a ceramic soup bowl in a Hopkins Community Education class in February.
• Be an in-kind sponsor of soup, bread, coffee, or other needed materials.
• Volunteer at the event. Musicians and choral groups are invited to perform at the event.
• Donate a fine art bowl or related art for the silent auction.
• Schools may include hunger issues in the curriculum, bowl making in art classes, or promotional poster design
in art and tech classes; students and staff may volunteer or perform at the event.
www.HopkinsSchools.org/EmptyBowls • www.facebook.com/HopkinsEmptyBowls
Kate Wilinski, Community Engagement Officer at ICA Food Shelf
(952) 279-0290• kate@icafoodshelf.org