by Jayce Kaldunski
Jayce Kaldunski held the 2022-2023 Hands4Hope Community Engagement Ambassador for the Placerville Area leadership position, and is a 2023 El Dorado High School graduate.
Our first Empty Bowls Supper fundraiser back in-person was a huge success! This year the event was held at the Placerville Shakespeare Club on April 16th from 3-7 pm. Patrons were able to choose from three different types of soup, all you can eat bread, and were able to purchase desserts from our dessert bar. Attendees also had the pleasure of being serenaded by the Coloma Celtics band while they ate their meal.
The event brought in over 275 guests and numerous volunteers from our community. The decision to bring back the in-person event was well received.
“I thought our Empty Bowls event after a three and a half year pandemic-related hiatus was wonderful. It had a relaxed and mellow vibe and was well-attended but not too crowded, so people could linger with their friends and actually hear the music and each other. Our superpower was having so many incredible Hands4Hope volunteers, who greeted, served soup, refilled beverages and bread baskets, washed dishes by hand because we didn’t have a dishwasher, oversaw the recycling effort, and just generally were friendly and welcoming. Don’t know how we ever did this event without them!”said Emogene Haller, Empty Bowls Committee Member.
Overall, the Empty Bowls Committee raised over $11,000, which was divided between our Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference Emergency Food Pantry, The Upper Room Dining Hall, and the international organization Earth's Angels, which is currently working on building a food farm in Ghana, Africa. We were also able to help support some local vendors at the Empty Bowls event by inviting them to host a booth and sell their goods.
From attendees to volunteers, everyone who came to the event left with a full belly and a smile on their face!
Thank you so much to all of our Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference volunteers who made this event possible, and an extra big thank you to the event sponsors as well, Wendy and Dennis Thomas, Placerville M.O.R.E, and EDUHSD.
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