Floyd Empty Bowls Event April 26, 2020
Empty Bowls aligns Floyd’s strength as an artisan community with a mission to support New River Community Action’s Floyd County Backpack Program. The program distributes food to eligible Floyd County school children to take home for the weekend. Empty Bowls is the fundraiser for the children’s weekend food program.
You can support a community activity that raises money to help the next generation, share a wonderful lunch with friends and neighbors and then get to take home your handcrafted bowl made and donated by local artisans!
NRCA’s Floyd BackPack program makes a real difference over the weekend for school children in Floyd County who are at risk for hunger. The Backpack program provides easy-to-prepare food to children who otherwise might not have access to adequate food during the weekends and serves about 200 Floyd County students in all five schools and NRCA Head Start each school year.
“We are so fortunate to have the award-winning potters of Floyd County and the Blue Ridge Potter’s Guild who donate over 500 beautiful soup bowls. The potters make this event possible, and we are very thankful for their support,” states Susan Sutterer, the Chairperson of the NRCA Empty Bowls Event Committee.
Glenda George, an Empty Bowls Organizing Committee member, states, “The people of Floyd are so giving with donations of delicious soup and bread, businesses donate supplies, and many volunteers make this event possible. Additionally, cookies, and drinks and silent auction items are donated for the event, and we always have wonderful entertainment.”
Make sure to check out the wonderful local Floyd silent auction items as well, including FloydFest tickets and Anne Vaughan jewelry.
One participating Backpack family noted, “I’m a parent that has three children in the Floyd County Public School System; I have two in elementary school and one in high school. Both, my husband and I are currently employed but barely earn enough to pay our bills and expenses each month, the food from the program is a great help to our grocery budget each week. We both work on weekends, so the food that the Floyd BackPack Program provides for my children feeds them in the morning when we are at work. The oatmeal and the Capri Sun drinks are a couple of their favorite things they receive and enjoy eating. We greatly appreciate all that the program does for our family, knowing that Floyd County Schools and the Floyd Backpack Program work together to help families like my family. It means so much.”
Ticket prices are $15 for adults in advance and $18 at the door, $5 for children age 6-12, ages 5 and under are free. Advance tickets go on sale March 1 and may be purchased during business hours at the Floyd New River Community Action office located at 120 Epperly Mill Road SW. Tickets are also available at the Floyd Center for the Arts, the Bell Gallery and Garden, Floyd County Visitor’s Center and Chamber of Commerce, and Red Rooster beside the Post Office. Advance tickets can also be purchased at The Pharm House and online at www.newrivercommunityaction.org/floyd-backpack-program.
The Backpack Program is supported by the NRV Health Foundation, Community Foundation of the New River Valley, and private donors. The annual Empty Bowls fundraiser is the major funding source for the BackPack Program. If you are unable to attend the event, but would like to contribute, donors may send tax-deductible donations for the Backpack Program to New River Community Action, PO Box 849, Floyd, VA 24091 or deliver donations to the NRCA Emergency Assistance Office at 120 Epperly Mill Road SW. Donors should make checks payable to NRCA and note Floyd Backpack Program in the memo section. You can sponsor a child for the whole year with a $150 sponsorship donation!
Choose a bowl and fill it with lunch at the Empty Bowls fundraiser to help feed Floyd County children throughout the year. Come and enjoy great music and bid on great local Floyd silent auction items: including Floyd Fest Tickets and Anne Vaughan Designs Jewelry!
