As everyone walked from table to table to admired the beautiful, empty bowls at the Operation Food Search Empty Bowls event to fight hunger at Plaza Frontenac, a pianist softly played in the background, “It’s a Wonderful World.” For those in our community who know what going hungry feels like, events such as this and organizations such as Operation Food Search help to make their world a lot more wonderful by raising funds and awareness.

“So many people in our community have empty bowls,” said Sunny Schaefer, Executive Director of Operation Food Search. That is the thrust of the symbolism of the empty bowl, to show the prevalent and growing problem of hunger in the St. Louis bi-state region.

“We’ve had a 30 percent increase in need. The hungry are not just the homeless. They are the working poor who don’t make enough money to buy food,” said Schaefer. She said that the growing problem is due in part because of the jobless rate and the economy.

Now in its 13^th year, Operation Food Search Empty Bowls event is well loved and well attended by the community. Even still, it was almost cancelled this year.

Schaefer said, “Local students and teachers kept calling and saying, ‘You are doing the event aren’t you?’” Their enthusiasm was contagious and Operation Food Search set the Empty Bowls event for the weekend before Thanksgiving, a holiday when many of us will eat more in one day than some will eat in a week.

Local artists, students and teachers handcrafted art in the form of paintings, pottery, ceramic bowls and other mediums and then donated them to Operation Food Search for their annual Empty Bowls fundraiser. This year more than 1,000 pieces of pottery were donated for sale by area elementary school, high school, and college teachers and students.

The empty bowls displayed for sale varied in size, style, color and design. Just like the hungry, none were exactly the same.

Scattered on the tables among the bowls, there were several small pieces of yellow paper with a powerful and moving typed message that read: Your ceramic bowl was handcrafted by artists, students, and friends of Operation Food Search. Each time you use your bowl, please remember that someone’s bowl is empty and that on this occasion you helped fill it. Thank you for your support.

Mike and Kate Kupstas picked out a bowl for their lake house. Mike is the Operation Food Search Board of Directors Chairman.

“We love this event. It is for a worthy cause,” said Mike. He and his wife are avid pottery collectors.

Whitfield school students, Casey and Ally Brown bought a large bowl. It was one that Casey’s teacher, Luke Cano donated. It is going in their log cabin.

Celebrating 30 years of fighting hunger, Operation Food Search is a food bank that distributes more than two million pounds of food and household items to more than 150 community agencies that in turn feed more than 150,000 people every single month, half of which are children. In addition, they also distribute kid-friendly foods to thousands of children in the St. Louis public schools during the school year through their Operation Backpack program.

If you or someone you know are in need of food assistance, please call Operation Food Search Hunger Hotline at (314) 726-5355. This service is operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help people find hunger relief. More information about the program or volunteer opportunities is on the Operation Food Search website link here.

Participating Schools and Teachers

Lutheran High School South – Mr. Martin Leiberman
Christian Brothers College High School – Ms. Maggie Krepel
St. Joseph Academy – Jennifer Sudekum
University of Missouri – STL – Mr. Snail Scott
Whitfield School – Mr. Luke Cano
Meramac School in Clayton – Ms. Beth Williams
Ladue High School – Mr. Guy Sachs
Central Visual and Performing Arts High School – Mr. Bill Perry
Jefferson College – Mr. Anthony Borchardt
Chaminade College Prep School – Mr. Mark Laury
St. Louis Community College – Forest Park – Mr. Mathew Isaacson
Lindbergh High School – Mr. Jack Schwab
St. Louis Community College – Meramac – Jim Ibur
Villa Duchesne – Ms. Laurie Blaes
Maryville University – unnamed
MICDS – Bill Yonker

Participating Artists

Craft Alliance
Carol Eder
Brother Mel Meyer
Bill Perry
Joel Price
Bridget Flood
MJ Goerke
Bob Allen
Georgeanne Carlisle-Gass
Yael Shomroni
Kay Wood
Ada Steinberg
Carol Fleming
Mary Kofron
Sheri Goldsmith
Cynthia Berg
The Painting Paw