AUSTIN, Texas — Every year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the Central Texas Food Bank and Meals on Wheels team up to bring soup to the community. Sunday was the 27th year of the Austin Empty Bowl Project.
“The Austin Empty Bowl Project is so quintessential to what is amazing about Austin,” said Mark Jackson, chief development officer at the Central Texas Food Bank. “All of the different people come together to, you know, help their community and have fun and get ready for the holiday season.”
Several Austin restaurants donate soup, and potters donate thousands of bowls for the event. This year, they handed out about 3,000 bowls and had over 1,000 people attend the event.
All the money raised during this event goes straight toward helping the Central Texas Food Bank and Meals on Wheels provide food to the community throughout the year and especially during the winter months. Organizers say during the holiday season, they are spending about $1 million on food a month.
“We find that the holiday season, the need spikes when families want to make sure that they can, you know, put food on the table and have those special memories themselves,” Jackson said.
Jackson also said this year in particular, there’s been even more of a food need than usual.
"Back in the spring, there was a reduction in SNAP benefits, and also the cost of living in Austin, inflation, groceries, are just so expensive for families right now that it's just been a perfect storm,” Jackson said.
That’s why he said this event is so crucial to fundraise and celebrate the holiday season. Over the course of the 27 years they’ve been doing this event, they’ve raised more than $1.4 million.
The event has also become a family tradition for many like Steve Young, who brings his wife and kids every single year.
“We look forward to it,” Young said. “We just love hanging out together and being here and supporting the food bank.”
Elizabeth Gandy also has been coming for the past four or five years with some of her closest friends.
“It's really such a worthwhile holiday experience,” Gandy said.
The Central Texas Food Bank is always looking for more volunteers for their warehouse and distributions. If you are interested in making a donation, they are matching the gifts, so the impact is doubled.