A vibrant room filled with eager attendees gathered together, united by the anticipation of homemade soup and bread, all in support of Lake Area Ministries. This spirit of community and generosity helped raise over $10,000 to assist with the food pantry.
The 8th Annual Empty Bowls event took place on Tuesday, November 6th, at the Keystone Heights Woman’s Club.
This year, the Woman’s Club, the Methodist Women’s Craft Group, Mission of the Dirt Road, and the Trinity Young Adult Bible Study, led by Karen Lake, the Potter, all contributed by making pottery bowls to be handed out at the event. In total, they created 80 bowls for the occasion.
A variety of soups and pasta were available, including Taco, Tomato, Chicken Noodle, Vegetable Beef, Chicken Dumplings, Unstuffed Bell Pepper, Chicken Festive, Pasta Fagioli, and Corned Beef and Cabbage. There was something for everyone.
Let’s not forget the incredible cakes baked by several individuals, with the proceeds going to Lake Area Ministries. Each cake was auctioned off, and once the cakes were awarded, many of the recipients kindly shared their cakes with all the attendees. They were quite scrumptious.
If you were curious about the cakes that were auctioned, here are the contents: White Amaretto Chocolate Tilled Cake, Margarita Cake, Hershey Cake, Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Cake, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Raspberry Cake, and Carrot Cake.
Ryan Begue, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Keystone Heights, opened the event with a speech, followed by a prayer.
“I’d like to thank Tanya and all of the volunteers and everybody that helped put this on and for everyone coming out,” he said.
Each year, Lake Area Ministries raises awareness about the importance of soup kitchens and food pantries in our communities.
On average, Lake Area Ministries provides food for approximately 630 families each month, which amounts to about 2,520 people.
Tanya Dennis, the Director of Lake Area Ministries, noted that each month they receive around 25 to 30 new families seeking food assistance. This number is currently rising due to funding cuts related to SNAP benefits following the government shutdown.
According to Dennis, they served 148 families within the three hours they were open on the first day following the cutoff of these benefits. These families urgently need food assistance due to the ongoing government shutdown and the rising cost of food.
She said, “I have people on speed dial that will drop what they’re doing to help at the pantry, and I can’t thank them enough, and I want them to know that they put the hope in people’s faces just as well as I do at the window. I see kids smiling even when they don’t even know where their next meal is coming from. I see neighbors out helping each other, passing food around, and doing things.”
“It would be easy to worry that we might not have enough, but I stand here today in confidence because of God’s faithfulness and because of you in this room tonight, we pull together and we are the hands and feet of Lake Area Ministries.”
“I want to start by saying thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity and your prayers. Your support means more than words can express,” she said.
