Empty Bowls Dinner Raises Nearly $20,000 for Organizations Fighting Hunger

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The Hands4Hope Empty Bowls Committee wrapped up their service-learning experience by reflecting on their incredibly successful Empty Bowls Dinner, held on March 8, 2025. This is the second year that a youth-led Hands4Hope committee has coordinated this community event from start to finish. This year, the event raised nearly $20,000 to support La proMesa Familiar, Upper Room Dining Hall, Hands4Hope Emergency Food Pantry, and Earth's Angels (Ghana).

Held at the historic Forni Building at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, the 25th Placerville Empty Bowls Dinner welcomed approximately 600 guests of all ages. Each guest received a unique handmade ceramic bowl that they then filled with their choice of soup, served along with fresh bread. Guests enjoyed lively music by Coloma Celtic; browsed vendor booths selling handmade crafts, art, jewelry, and loaves of bread; and selected from a myriad of baked treats like cookies, bars, and cupcakes for dessert.

“About 1 in 4 individuals in Sacramento County experience food insecurity. As hunger becomes a desensitized topic in our everyday lives, we accept that hunger will continue to be a problem. Through Empty Bowls, we present hunger as a tangible issue where everyone’s contributions will make a difference because it truly does for even one individual,” said Tania Thomas, Hunger Education Lead, and a junior at Vista Del Lago High School who gave a presentation about food insecurity at the dinner.

"The 2025 Empty Bowls event demonstrated your success in providing important resources to improve food security in El Dorado County, as well as raise awareness about this important issue," said Karen Wells, Lead Baker/Owner of Sister Loaves Real Bread for Real People, a business that donated bread to be served at the event and had a vendor space where they shared a third of sales as an additional donation. "As important to me personally is your mission to inspire and empower youth in leadership and service. It is a mission we share. You are making a difference!"

Empty Bowls By the Numbers:

16: middle and high school youth on the Empty Bowls Committee
10: adult mentor volunteers on the Empty Bowls Committee
7: subcommittees, each led by a youth participant, to manage different aspects of the event
141: youth and adult volunteers who assisted on the night of the event
550: service hours tallied by committee participants
900: service hours tallied in total by all volunteers and participants