SOLANA BEACH — Two North County churches raised $10,600 at an Oct. 12 dinner to benefit elderly, hungry and working poor people in San Diego.Volunteers from Calvary Lutheran in Solana Beach and St. Peter’s Episcopal in Del Mar served soup and bread provided by local restaurants in ceramic bowls, handcrafted and donated by local artisans. Participants got to choose their bowls and take them home afterward.
About 300 people enjoyed the event called “Empty Bowls.” It will benefit the Third Avenue Charitable Organization (TACO) at First Lutheran Church in downtown San Diego — a social ministry that provides free meals plus medical, dental and mental health care to people in need, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Soup and freshly baked bread were provided by local restaurants including Chief’s Burgers and Brew, Taverna Blu, Prepkitchen, Crepes and Corks, The Fish Market, Del Mar Rendezvous, California Pizza Kitchen, Beach Grass Café, Naked Café, Panera Bread Restaurant, Tony’s Jackal, Woody’s, T’s Café, Poseidon, and O’Brien’s Boulangerie. The North County chapter of Thrivent Financial contributed to the fund-raiser.
Art organizations whose members made the bowls include San Diego Potters Guild, Bishop’s School, Clay Artists of San Diego, Clay Associates, El Cajon Valley and Francis Parker high schools, Get Centered, Plum Pottery, San Diego State University’s Art Department and UCSD Craft Center. The Big Decisions performed as diners ate.
Created in 1990 by an art teacher in Michigan, Empty Bowls is now an international grassroots effort to fight hunger. For more information about contributing to TACO, phone (619) 235-9445 or go to tacosd.org/.
