$3,700 raised for American Canyon’s hungry
Some 300 American Canyoners will have one week of groceries taken care of thanks to locals who contributed to last weekend’s Empty Bowl Fundraiser benefitting Kiwanis Club Food Pantry.
This year was the most successful yet, according to organizers. Initial numbers show that the approximately 150 people who attended the Valentine’s Day event donated more than $3,700.
Since 2018, members of the American Canyon Community Church have come together each February to turn the building’s parking lot on Andrew Road into a block party to raise money for local food distribution.
“It’s higher than what we’ve ever counted before,” said event organizer Yvonne Brown. She’s still counting. “Since then, we received more money,” she added happily.
Empty Bowl fundraisers are put on worldwide as a way to raise money to ease food insecurity. Anyone who wants to can organize one.
This year’s funds will go directly to the food pantry run by the Kiwanis Club on Napa Junction Road, one of three monthly food distribution sites in the city. Charlotte Chiolero, who coordinates the pantry, estimates that they distribute food boxes to more than 280 people each month. But, she said, actual numbers of those who depend on the distribution might be higher: One elderly client is supporting 11 people in her household.
While Community Action of Napa Valley covers supplies for most of the year, four of the monthly distributions are stocked solely by Kiwanis Club volunteers.
Chiolero said that every year, she’s grateful for the windfall from Empty Bowl.
“In the fall, we do a food drive, so we get a lot of food donated,” she said. Everyone’s in the spirit to donate during the holidays, she added, “but then the rest of the year, it’s amazing how quickly the food goes.”
She estimates that $3,700-plus can cover an entire month’s distribution. “We buy nonperishable meat, like canned tuna and chicken at Costco,” she said. “Each box we distribute has eight or 10 items,” adding up to $25-$30 worth of food per box.
Largely because of Brown’s efforts, the American Canyon Community Church has become a mainstay of volunteer work in the city. A decade ago, it was called American Canyon Baptist Church.
“We wanted people to know we cared about the community,” she said. “We don’t want everybody to think, ‘Oh, they’re just Baptists.’ We don’t care — we have all kinds of people there. I was raised Catholic.” She prefers people consider church somewhere “they feel at home.”
Brown holds a full-time job with American Canyon Public Works at the city’s Corporation Yard. It’s a fun gig, she said, and part of her dedication to service. She has washed windows at the Kiwanis Club, planted flowers in wine barrels to brighten city sidewalks, “fluffed” the woodchips in playgrounds and a lot more behind the scenes of American Canyon.
For Brown, the empty bowl signifies hunger, as well as generosity. Prior to the fundraiser, she and other organizers combed through thrift stores all over the North Bay to collect bowls. This year, they collected more than 130 unique bowls, which they sold to Saturday’s attendees for $15.
For that donation, supporters were met with a bounty of 16 different crock pots of homemade, all-you-can-eat soup, salad and bread, plus baked goodies. If they want, attendees can take their bowl home. Most chose to donate theirs to next year’s fundraiser.
“Everything we have is donated; everything is homemade,” said Brown, who contributed two of the soups. “I made a family recipe. It’s Portuguese kale soup, and the other was chicken and rice soup.”
The Kiwanis Club of American Canyon Food Pantry is at 300 Napa Junction Road (Room 4), American Canyon, every third Thursday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Anyone is welcome.
