Courtney Davenport and her husband Thomas are volunteers at the food pantry, and their commitment continues with their children. On Friday, Nov. 6 at Conestoga Mennonite Church in Morgantown, their sons Eli and Jake served soup to raise money for the Twin Valley Food Pantry.
This was Twin Valley Rotary Club’s first Empty Bowls fundraiser for the local food pantry, and it met the fundraising goal of $2,000.
“It makes me feel good to help other people, and I enjoy doing it,” Eli said.
“We like to bring our children to help with these events to help teach them about service and taking care of others. This was a good way to join in with that,” said Courtney Davenport.
Rotary Club President Ron Moyer decided to try the event after hearing the idea from one of his wife’s artisan friends. The Empty Bowls movement, first created by artists in 1990, aims to end hunger.
For a $10 ticket, attendees received a hand-crafted bowl and several helpings of soup, bread and refreshments. Mary Ellen Mahan, a Rotary member and coordinator for the event, was surprised that numerous people who could not attend wrote checks to donate anyway.
“This is a very easy way to help others and still have a nice night out,” said Mahan.
Restaurants from the tri-county area donated nine types of soup for the event. Sponsors included Dans at Green Hills, Judy’s on Cherry, St. Peter’s Bakery, Stirling Guest Hotel, Twin Valley High School, Goodwill Methodist Church, Petrangeli’s, September Farm, Sunny Crest Home, Windmill Family Restaurant, Heritage Restaurant, Phoebe’s Pure Food, Shady Maple Smorgasbord and Tel Hai Retirement Community.
Local artisans and students from Twin Valley High School and Conestoga Christian School contributed nearly 200 pottery bowls for the event.
Mahan, also the board president of the Village Library, she recruited volunteers from the library.
Lisa Betz, a library board member who heard about an Empty Bowls event in Pittsburgh from a relative, was excited to partake in one herself.
“It seems like people are staying and enjoying themselves, so it’s definitely successful. Everyone seems to love the soup,” said Betz.
Mary Ellen Farber, the CEO assisted living facility Sunny Crest, said she donated to the event because “we serve individuals with special needs and also that are financially under served.”
The need is greater for the food pantry, since it recently saw a spike in families utilizing it. According to food pantry volunteer Linda Smith, the average turnout is about 120 families, but 140 families showed up in October. Mahan added that the biggest demand for food is often the Thanksgiving holiday.
“When you think about Thanksgiving and Christmas and charitable donations, it’s also a time of year where I think the food pantry could use a little extra,” said Betz.
“I’m just really pleased with how far and wide reaching this project was,” said Smith.
The Twin Valley Food Pantry has been active since 1994, and it almost closed after the 2008 financial crisis. Conestoga Mennonite Church picked it up in 2009 has hosted it for more than five years.
“The community is tremendously supportive of the pantry,” said Pastor Bob Petersheim of Conestoga Mennonite. “[For] people who have food shortages, it’s a crisis all year, but it adds extra stress over the holidays. I think it’s good timing because people are conscious of the need over the holidays.”
The next food pantry dates are the third Tuesday of November and December.
With the turnout at the Rotary Club’s first annual Empty Bowls, Moyer said there is a good chance they will plan the event again next year.
