join us at our next event

Return to Events

The Empty Bowl Event 2010 will be held at 6PM on Friday evening, April 16th at the Garten Verein, at the corner of Avenue O and 27th Streets, in Galveston, Texas.

Proceeds from The Empty Bowl Event support the nutrition programs of The Jesse Tree. These include:

  • The food pantry
  • Senior Food Box Program
  • Friday Food Fairs
  • Diabetes Classes

The event began when a Seventh Grade art teacher invited his students to learn about local hunger, by hand crafting ceramic bowls, offering them for sale and donating the proceeds to feed hungry people in their own community. The idea has spread across the nation. In Galveston, Madeleine Baker and several members of The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship took up the cause in 2003, hosting the first event in their beautiful chapel in Galveston, Texas.

George Bowes, faculty member at College of the Mainland enjoined his students to join the effort and together, the Unitarian "Bowlers" and the COM students produce over four hundred bowls annually. These works of art are offered to those who attend the event, while local restaurants fill them with delectable selections of hot and cold soups. Patrons go home after a delightful evening with their ceramic art to cherish. In the Empty Bowl Event 2009, fifty of the most prized works of art were offered by Silent Auction on The Jesse Trees website at www.jessetree.net

Whether attending the event virtually by obtaining your Empty Bowl on the internet, purchasing tickets, donating soup or volunteering, this is an event for the entire community. Please mark your calendar for April 16, 2010.