The Texas Hunger Initiative—San Angelo Region is presenting the First Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser to benefit the Wesley Trinity Daily Bread Soup Lunch Program—the “Soup Kitchen.”

Everyone is invited to enjoy a simple meal of soup and bread on November 10, 2015, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.in the ballroom at the Cactus Hotel, at 36 E. Twohig.

Soup will be provided by a variety of restaurants and groups, including Fiddle Fire, Olive Garden, Kenny Blanek’s Village Cafe, St. Mary’s Church, St. Paul Presbyterian Church, McAllister’s, and the Wesley Soup Kitchen. Others contributing to the meal are McAllister’s, Albertsons, Lowe’s, Sam’s, and Mayfield Paper.

As a part of the $20 ticket price, guests will get the opportunity to choose a handcrafted pottery bowl made by local and area artists to take home as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world, including those in our local community.

The Empty Bowls Project is an international grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. What started in 1990 as a project in a high school ceramics class in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, has now spread throughout the United States and to numerous other countries. San Angelo has many residents who struggle with being hungry, and no group does more to combat that hunger than the Soup Kitchen.

The Wesley Trinity Daily Bread Soup Lunch Program was conceived in 1984 out of a concern for God’s less fortunate and homeless people. The “Soup Kitchen” as it is known is designed to provide nourishing hot meals at noon Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., every week of the year. Children, women, and men, who would not otherwise have a sustaining meal on a daily basis, are welcome to partake of this meal. The meals consist of a nourishing homemade soup or stew, and/or a main dish served with meat and vegetable, bread, dessert, drinks, and often other side dishes. They average providing meals for 200 people each day. There are no paid positions at the Soup Kitchen—only 125 very faithful volunteers. For more information, contact www.wesleysoup.com.

A part of Baylor University, the Texas Hunger Initiative (THI) is a collaborative, capacity-building project focused on ensuring that every Texas has access to three nutritious meals a day, seven days a week. THI develops and implements strategies to end hunger through research, policy, education, community organizing and community development. Locally, the Kids Eat Free Summer Meal Program is a part of the efforts of THI as well as the West Texas Hunger Summit. We also work with the Health and Human Services Commission for the Community Partner Program, and support Child Nutrition Programs through a grant from Walmart. For more information, go to www.texashunger.org.

Be sure to mark November 10th on your calendar and join others from our community for a simple lunch meal of soup and bread, while enjoying a kaleidoscope of color among the original handcrafted bowls. To buy tickets prior to the event or to donate a handcrafted bowl, come by the Texas Hunger Initiative office on the Mezzanine Floor of the Cactus Hotel. Know that by joining us for this lunch, you are helping the Soup Kitchen and THI address the issue of hunger in our community.

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