The Empty Bowls event raised $22,000 for food backpacks that go home with about 300 local children each weekend.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Giao Hoang, Empty Bowls project manager told The Montana Standard. “And I'm so happy there were so many people working toward a common goal: to feed our students.”
The annual event, held at the Butte Civic Center earlier this week to accommodate a larger crowd, sold about 850 tickets, said Hoang.
Major donors for the event were Mile High, Montana Precision Products, Steele's furniture, St. James Healthcare, Triple S, Front Street Station, and radio station KBOW-KOPR.
Kathy Griffith and the Butte Emergency Food Bank load backpacks for hungry children throughout the year.
Butte High School Art Club leaders Michelle Anderson and Miranda Bishop help art teacher Mike Kujawa oversee the creation of 1,000 bowls by students and community professional and amateur artists for Empty Bowls. The student leaders also load backpacks weekly that are distributed through the local schools.
Soup and homemade bread were served in the original handcrafted bowls for attendees.