The Story We’re Still Writing. 25 Years of Empty Bowls — Feeding Community. Feeding Opportunity.

For 25 years, Empty Bowls has reflected a simple truth: when a community shows up for one another, something powerful takes shape.

What began as a modest gathering inspired by the stone soup story has grown into one of our area’s most enduring traditions. Each year, Empty Bowls invites neighbors to take part in something larger than a single meal — a shared commitment to ensuring families across the region have reliable access to the food they need.

Over time, the event itself has evolved. Today, Empty Bowls operates as a drive-through experience that allows more supporters than ever to participate while preserving the spirit that has defined the event from the beginning. Each bowl represents a reminder of what happens when people contribute what they can to strengthen their community.

That collective effort has sustained Empty Bowls for a quarter century. Artists and community partners have created thousands of handcrafted bowls. Volunteers have helped

bring the event to life year after year. Sponsors, including Garner Foods, Food Lion, and Sawtooth School for Visual Art (celebrating 80 years this year!), and many other longtime

supporters, have ensured the impact extends far beyond a single day.

Together, those contributions support the work of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina and its network of partners across an 18-county service area. Through hundreds of food pantries, shelters, schools, and community organizations, that network helps ensure neighbors have access to nutritious food and the support they need to move forward.

Today, Empty Bowls has also come to reflect the deeper work happening through Second Harvest’s Providence programs, where culinary training and workforce development create

pathways to opportunity. Stories like Chef Daryl Myers, Jr’s show what that opportunity

can mean.

During his time with Second Harvest’s Providence Culinary Training program, Daryl developed a passion for making cheesecakes that he has grown into a thriving business. What began as a training opportunity became a pathway forward — one that opened doors he once believed were out of reach. His story reflects something Empty Bowls has represented quietly for 25 years: food can do more than fill a plate. It can

create possibility.

As Second Harvest marks this milestone year, the anniversary is less about looking back than recognizing the many people who have shaped the tradition along the way —

and those who continue to carry it forward. Artists who craft the bowls. Students who prepare the soup. Sponsors, volunteers, and supporters who return year after year. Each

of them contributes to the story. And like the stone soup that inspired the event, the

strength of Empty Bowls has always come from the simple act of people bringing what they can and creating something meaningful together.

Twenty-five years in, that story is still unfolding.

Join Second Harvest for Empty Bowls! Happening Wednesday, April 22 (drive-through between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.) Ticket sales close April 12 at midnight.Get yours now at EmptyBowlsNC.org.