Food insecurity continues to be a growing struggle in Northern Nevada. many organizations are trying to tackle the issue, and one of them is Friends In Service Helping -- or FISH. Happening soon is the non-profit’s Empty Bowls Project, which is held annually and in collaboration with Ogres-Holm Pottery.
Community members make ceramic bowls, then local restaurants compete and fill them with some of their best dishes.
"The whole goal of this particular event is to have a reminder that while you're sitting down, having a meal, that there's other people in the community that don't have that luxury,” said Jim Peckham, the Executive Director of FISH.
Attendees get to pick out which bowl they want, with around 1,000 one-of-a-kind bowls to choose from, then fill it with all of the different cuisines. The event is all-you-can-eat style. The proceeds from the Empty Bowls Project helps to fund FISH and its many programs.
“We train med students and nursing students from UNR,” said Peckham. “We've got homeless shelters, transitional shelters. We've got student housing. Now that we're helping people to go back into the trades, technology and medicine.”
That only scratches the surface of what FISH does in the community with their goal of giving a “hand up, not a handout.” FISH focuses on providing food, instruction, shelter, and health care to people in need.
Empty Bowls will be held on October 10th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Carson Mall on South Carson Street in Carson City. It costs $25 per person. Tickets can be purchased at the door, but they suggest buying them online in advance.
To purchase tickets, or learn more about the project, click here.
Fish says one ticket purchased helps support up to ten people in need.
