Brasstown – Dark clouds and pattering rain set the perfect stage for the annual Empty Bowls in the open-air Festival Barn at John C. Campbell Folk School on Saturday night.
The weather provided a sensible setting for friends to sip hot soup and laugh together at the charity event, which raises money for four local food banks in Cherokee and Clay counties.
Bethany Chaney, the school’s interim executive director, was thrilled that the event sold out.
“We sold 250 tickets,” she said, looking around the bustling barn, where clusters of people “shopped” at the tables lining either side of the barn packed with hand-crafted pottery bowls.
“We have over 700 bowls to choose from,” Chaney said. “This event is a way for people to better understand what it means to be hungry in Cherokee and Clay County. It’s not just the homeless who are hungry.
“Hunger isn’t always visible. It’s hidden among children in schools and even families in churches.”
One hundred percent of the profits gained from the $40 ticket price were donated to four local food banks: the Sharing Center food pantry in Murphy, Matt’s Ministry, the Cherokee County Food Bank in Andrews and the Clay County Food Pantry. The event raised $11,000 in 2019 and was expected to earn more this year.
Morgan Budzinsky, the event and volunteer manager for the folk school, said, “The bowls were made on site.”
Sienna Shute, the clay coordinator, added, “The school donated the clay, and the artisans donated their time. Every bowl is unique and made by kind hands.”
Karen Borchers, director of the United Way in Cherokee and Clay counties, spent a long time choosing her bowl.
“This is a terrific fundraiser that makes people aware of the issue in pleasant way,” she said.
Seated near Borchers was a table of six laughing people calling themselves the Barefoot Buddies.
“We live on Barefoot Road,” Olin Hood said.
The two couples – including Hood’s wife, Ruth Ann Hood, and neighbors Pat and Mike Barrett – chose matching blue bowls with large handles. The Barretts’ nephew – John Bryant and his wife, Kinga Bryant – joined the happy table.
Bryant said he was an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army and about to deploy to Africa for a year. “He’s a major,” Mrs. Bryant added with pride.
A quieter table of ladies sat waiting for their soup, which was provided by Perrone’s Neighborhood Grill and The Crown Brasstown, making a girl’s night out of the event. Blaine Adams attended with her mother-in-law, Pam Adams; her aunt, Ginger Hubbard; and Hubbard’s best friend, Amanda Dockery, who all chose wildly different styles of bowls.
“It’s a win, win, win,” Hubbard said. “We get a free bowl, we get to eat and we get to help our community.”