Empty Bowls Westchester

Thank you to everyone who made the 2020 Empty Bowls Westchester online auction a success!

The premise is simple.

Communities work together to create hand-painted bowls.
Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread.
In exchange for a donation, guests are asked to keep a bowl as
a reminder of the all the empty bowls in the world.

Over $570,000 has been raised to help eradicate food insecurity in Westchester County but the fight continues…

Empty Bowls promises to honor your generosity and use your donation in the most effective way possible.
Donations will be used to provide assistance where it is needed most within the donated to category or to address a similar need.

Special Thank You To Whole Foods Market &

the continued support to our 2020 recipients:

Hillside Food Outreach | Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry | Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester | Community Center of Northern Westchester | Hope Community Services | Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry of Pleasantville | Bread Of Life

How It Began

The concept for “Empty Bowls” started in the early 90’s with Bloomfield Hills, Michigan high school students and their art teacher, John Hartom. In an effort to help out with the local food drive they threw, decorated and fired 120 bowls. The school’s staff was invited to the cafeteria to select a bowl and enjoy a simple meal of soup and bread. John and his wife talked to the staff about hunger in their community, thanked them for their cash donations and then asked them to take their bowls home with them as a reminder of those with “empty bowls”. There are now “empty bowls” projects all over the world.

The project is now championed by The Imagine Render Group, a nonprofit whose mission is to develop creative, exciting, and powerful models that are replicable and scalable by others wishing to work for social justice.