Local restaurants sign on to annual Empty Bowl Carson City to raise food insecurity awareness

An annual event that brings together Carson City restaurants and the community to share delicious food and raise money and awareness of local hunger and food insecurity, Empty Bowls Carson City returns Dec. 1, 2023 at the Carson Mall.

The goals are simple, offer a modest meal and a handcrafted bowl at an affordable cost to increase awareness that food insecurity is a real problem in our community; and raise at least $10,000 to donate to Friends In Service Helping food programs (FISH).

To achieve these goals the Empty Bowls Carson City planning committee works with Ogres-Holm Pottery in Carson City to host free bowl-making evenings every other week from March through October each year. The committee works with local potters to teach the necessary skills to anyone who wants to help create or decorate a bowl.

This year, nearly 1000 hand-crafted bowls were created by local community members and artisans at Ogres-Holm Pottery studio in Carson City. Some experience the art of crafting a clay bowl for the first time. The experience brings families together and allows people to meet their neighbors.

Several hundred additional bowls have been created and donated by local potters, school groups, and other crafts persons. The committee expects to have over 1200 bowls for the public to choose from at their December 1st meal event. There are bowls created by children and by adults; skilled and new potters; accomplished artists and paintbrush amateurs; every participant adds their unique flourish to our bowl gallery. Our community works all year to create and donate these handcrafted bowls.

With the assistance of FISH staff, the volunteer planning committee coordinates the annual meal event that serves 800 to 1000 people. The food is donated by local restaurants, F.I.S.H. donates the food service expertise, the Carson Mall donates the entire north end of the mall, and Ogres-Holm Pottery is turned into a food service line for the event. Several local groups will be providing entertainment throughout the evening.

This year’s local restaurant participants include Flavors of India, Mangia Tutto, Poke Beach, Glen Eagles Restaurant, Great Basin Brewing Company, Casino Fandango, Fox Brewpub, and The Grille at Gold Dust West to name a few.

Molly Jordan and her daughter, Liz Jordan are leading the committee this year, coordinating everything from venue to volunteers.

The Empty Bowls Carson City planning committee invites you to join us, celebrate the holidays, share a meal with your neighbors, and take a bowl home with you as a reminder that there are Empty Bowls in our community. Dining is from 4 to 8 p.m. at Carson Mall.

Here's some history on the Empty Bowls Carson City event.

Ogres-Holm Pottery, in Carson City, has been hosting free bowl-making events since 2016. The Carson Mall has donated the entire north end of the mall for the big meal event since 2017.

Local restaurants have donated all of the food we serve since 2014.

Proceeds from this fundraiser will go to the food program at Friends In Service Helping (FISH), a local 501(c)3 private non-profit social services organization that provides help and assistance to the homeless and needy in Carson City, Lyon, and Douglas counties.

The Empty Bowls Event will take place on Friday, December 1 from 4PM-8PM at the Carson Mall, North Entrance. Stop in for a warm bowl of soup and enjoy the entertainment provided by local artists.

This event shares the evening with the downtown Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights state tree lighting event

For just $15, attendees will receive a hand-crafted bowl to take home [as a reminder of bowls that remain empty and without food in our community] and the opportunity to try any of the specialty meals donated for the event by local restaurants.

For tickets, head over to FISH Carson City Thrift Store Monday through Saturday; Ogres-Holm Pottery, or online here.