In the latest stage of a fruitful eight-year partnership, feeding those in need the Academy Center of the Arts has given a $5617.71 check to Lynchburg Daily Bread, a local non-profit that provides meals to the hungry, a sum coming out of this year’s Empty Bowls event.
For the past eight years, the Academy and Daily Bread have participated in the national program, Empty Bowls, and held an annual fundraising event involving local restaurants and potters from the area. Tickets for the event are $20 each.
“When the customer selects a bowl, they can then get some soup, bread, and so on. However, it’s usually not a lot of soup because the event is meant to be a reminder to everyone that there are people all over this world who do not have enough to eat every day,” Ted Batt, Director of Visual Arts at the Academy Center of the Arts, explained.
This year tickets sold out within an hour of the doors opening. Although some people still gave to the cause even though they couldn’t attend the event. Ted Batt made sure to follow up with those generous patrons and deliver a bowl to them in thanks.
Empty Bowls has brought together many in the region, ranging from Lynchburg restaurants to high schools to individuals of all walks of life.
During the event, Isaac Williams performed on the piano.
Artists who made pots include Nancy Blackwell, Sue Coleman, Ella Duckworth, David Emmert, Sheila Funkhouser, Ruth Glaze, Donna Headley, Jeanne Irving, Sherry Landry, Sam Lester, Judy Mathus, Sue McHenry, Suzanne Michaels, Kimberly Morey, Kari Phillips, Sarah Reid, Rosel Schewel, Gail Speidell, Kathy Spitzer, Randi Twery, Sally Von Oesen, Cindy Walraven, Donna Wallace, Ted Batt, Anna Ellis, Jane Garrett, Richard Rubin, Sue McHenry, the Girls in Virginia Club, students from E. C. Glass High School, students from Amherst County High School, students from Lynchburg Parks and Recreation, and students from Virginia Episcopal School.
Among the restaurants who donated drinks and meals were Oakwood Country Club, Phila-Deli, Cheesy Rider Food Truck, Marianne Rhodes, crisp, Market at Main, Avenue Foods, Depot Grille Lynchburg, Magnolia Foods, Dish, and Rivermont Pizza. The Montana Plains Bakery donated bread, lemonade was provided by Daily Bread itself, and Kaye Chandler and the Diamond Hill Historical Society, Liz Sumpter, and Erin Rettke offered desserts.
Overall there were 335 bowls made for the event.
Daily Bread, which operates every day including holidays, has given 47,673 meals from their downtown kitchen in 2015 alone. More information about them may be found at lynchburgdailybread.com
By Chad Denton
Thank you to Baird Financial, Walmart Foundation, and the Genworth Foundation for helping to make community outreach possible. Learn more about the Academy’s Community Outreach Programs: academycenter.org/community-outreach
