This Year’s Empty Bowl Supper Fundraiser Beats Last Year’s Earnings

Although Chair of the Board for House of Hope for Homeless Men, Michelle Smeltzer, expressed that she had hoped for a greater turnout for the Empty Bowl Supper fundraiser on the evening of Thursday, April 24, at the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, she did say that their earnings this year for the shelter, more than $7000, beat last year’s earnings by some $2000. The music was great, the food was great, the hospitality of the church was appreciated, and House of Hope is thankful to have conducted their second post-COVID fundraiser minus all the attendant restrictions.

Finely crafted bowls on sale at yearly fundraiser for men’s homeless shelter. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

For three pandemic years, in addition to selling bowls crafted by Arline Link with the assistance of her team at Explore Art and Clay, House of Hope provided soup to go at their yearly fundraiser, and now for the second time they are back to selling the bowls where the purchaser of a bowl can opt to sit down and enjoy a selection from soups furnished by On Cue, Red Light Culinary, Apple House, El Maguey, Brick House Bar & Grill, and Try Thai. To merely purchase a bowl, the cost is $25. To enjoy the soup in addition to the bowl, the cost is $35. The $35 ticket includes fresh bread prepared by Oak and Ollie as well as dessert.

In the middle: Arline Link, the driving force behind Explore Art and Clay on Main Street who prepared the bowls for the House of Hope fundraiser.

Link reflected on more than ten years in which her business has been involved with this yearly community event. “I think it’s important to get the community involved in whatever’s going on,” she said. In this tradition that spans over ten years, the community has been invited to participate in the crafting of these bowls prior to the fundraiser. Those who participate can paint the bowls that Link and her team have made. “I have several potters who normally help me,” she said, although this year she largely prepared over two hundred bowls herself with the help of one assistant who handled the design. Oftentimes, participants are unsure what to paint on the bowls, so Link and her team design the bowls with a tracery that participants can follow like a coloring book. This activity brings the community together to do something that ultimately helps the cause that House of Hope represents.

The band Passage Creek Rising is ready to provide country, bluegrass, and gospel music for the House of Hope fundraiser.

The mission of House of Hope is articulated as follows: “House of Hope is a program for homeless men who are ready and committed to making a permanent change in their lives. We offer shelter, food and guidance in obtaining needed services. Our Program Manager develops with each client a proactive plan to re-enter society as a productive citizen with stable housing. This plan may include a variety of life skills trainings as well as consistent support in the application of those skills. We are non-denominational and non-discriminatory.”

First Baptist Church donates their Fellowship Hall space for Empty Bowl Supper fundraiser in connection with House of Hope men’s homeless shelter on the evening of Thursday, April 24