KINGWOOD — Food for Preston will host its 14th Annual Empty Bowls Soup Dinner from 4-7 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Kingwood Community Building.
Tammy Laney, coordinator of Food for Preston, said the dinner will be $15, and consists of all-you-can-eat soups, bread, cookies and drinks. Included will be a hand-painted ceramic bowl, plate or mug of your choice.
Children younger than 10 will eat for free. Their meals do not include ceramic bowls or plates. Take-out will be available.
The dinner will feature a selection of soups donated by local businesses, churches and individuals, such as Hungarian goulash from Kitchen Crafts Catering, ham-and-bean soup from Jim Crandall, vegetarian tomato basil from Brenda Smith, vegetarian broccoli cheddar from Little Sandy Church, and chili from Kingwood Apostolic Church.
“The ceramic bowls and plates have been hand-painted by Preston County school groups, church groups, 4-H groups and businesses,” Laney said.
In addition to the food, she said there will be many raffle items.
Local folk singer Paul Burger will provide music throughout the evening.
Laney said, in November and December, a number of holiday food drives were held to support Food for Preston’s 11 food pantries. The Empty Bowls Soup Dinner is the primary fundraiser for the organization.
“It’s a great time for friends and family to come out and enjoy warm soup in a one-of-a-kind painted bowl. Food for Preston truly appreciates all the volunteers, businesses and community groups that take the time to paint these bowls, donate soup to the event, serve others and spread kindness to our Preston County families,” board President Kim Liston said.
Liston also serves as community programs coordinator for Preston Memorial Hospital.
“Our Preston Memorial Hospital annual holiday food drive is an excellent opportunity for our staff to give back to families who can use a little more support,” Liston said.
“Our employees enjoy giving back, especially because they know every donation matters and every little bit collectively goes a long way to help us meet the needs of our community.”
The staff also supports the Empty Bowls Soup Dinner, she said.
“Our staff has painted bowls in support of this event for a few years now. They enjoy taking a short break to paint a bowl for the event and often they buy back the bowl, which helps further support our food pantries,” Liston said.
Collectively, Laney said, the food pantries serve more than 1,650 people each month, placing food into the hands of people in need over 19,800 times in 2019.
“Food and funding donations are the only way local food pantries can continue to serve Preston County families,” Laney said.
She said four pallets of food were collected during Preston High School’s annual November food drive. The drive was organized by Stephanie Martin’s health sciences class. Laney said a donation of eight pallets of food and water was collected at the Kingwood Walmart.
Additional food drives and funding collections were hosted by Kingwood Parks
& Recreation, the West Virginia State Police, Kingwood Save-A-Lot, Preston Memorial Hospital, Vickie Jenkins Realty, Preston County Catholic Churches, Kingwood Smoker Friendly and others.
Laney said donations of food and funding to Food for Preston are accepted year-round by mail, phone or email at: Food for Preston, P.O. Box 1175, Kingwood, WV 26537. Phone 304-379-3519 or email coordinator@foodforpreston.org.
