Over the past 11 years, Jada Ahern and hundreds of local potters have worked together to craft more than 11,000 bowls that have raised almost $800,000 to help feed people experiencing hunger and food insecurity in the community.
They hope to boost that figure by $100,000 at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 5 as people gather for the 11th Annual Interfaith Community Services (ICS) “Empty Bowls: A Fundraiser to Fight Hunger and Feed Hope.”
“We are really excited about being back together in-person this year. It is so exciting to see what artists create in Tucson and Southern Arizona; there is such a variety of bowls with so many beautiful colors and shapes. For some people, the bowl they get here is the first real pottery they have had in their life, and many people return each year to add to their collection,” said Ahern, who owns Jadasclay and has coordinated potters for the the fundraiser for ten years. After some major life changes during the pandemic—including a fire in which she lost her home and studio—she plans to end her tenure after this year.
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Her support, however, is unwavering. Ahern said she will continue to make bowls for Empty Bowls and similar fundraisers nationwide because the cause is so compelling.
“Personally having had hard times recently, and knowing what it is like to not have housing or food day-to-day, I realize that you can’t function when you are desperate to live each day. That desperation makes it hard to find a job and feed your family and just function normally. That is why it is important to me to have basic needs met, and that is why Empty Bowls means so much,” Ahern said.
The event is one of the largest annual fundraisers for Interfaith Community Services, according to Ann Garn, Communications Manager for ICS. Funds raised will benefit ICS Food Banks located at 2820 W. Ina Rd and on the campus of New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail. The sites distribute more than 3,500 emergency food bags monthly to low-income seniors, individuals and families in need.
Empty Bowls also benefits the new Mobile Food Bank, a custom-built truck that distributes frozen meats, dairy, produce and other food staples to locations identified as neighborhoods in need. The Mobile Food Bank, which started in January, currently visits four locations daily Tuesdays through Saturdays and serves 50 to 60 families each day in three of the four locations.
Expanding the reach of ICS Food Banks is key to alleviating hunger in the community, particularly for families with transportation challenges, according to Garn.
“Empty Bowls is so instrumental in supporting our Food Banks, which have become more important than ever during the COVID-19 crisis. We have done so much to meet the growing need, shifting in order to maintain social distancing for clients and becoming more efficient. And the response to our Mobile Food Bank has been tremendous,” said Garn.
In addition to the Mobile Food Bank, ICS and the Community Food Bank have partnered to provide free Produce Giveaways. These supplement monthly food bank visits or provide assistance to anyone in the community in need with no ID required; find schedules for the Mobile Food Bank and Produce Giveaways at icstucson.org/what-we-do/emergency-assistance/mobile-food-bank/.
