Marshfield Area Empty Bowls Fundraiser Returns March 14th

Wednesday, February 25th, 2026 -- 3:01 PM

Marshfield Area Empty Bowls benefitting Soup or Socks is back for another.

Empty Bowls is being held on Saturday, March 14th from 11am-2pm at the Marshfield’s Eagles Club. I spoke with Lindsay Behounek, the Director of Soup or Socks, and she explained the event in more detail.

Listen to the interview with Lindsay here!

Again, Empty Bowls is being held on Saturday, March 14th from 11am-2pm at the Marshfield Eagles Club.

(AI assisted transcription by Otter.ai)

Lindsay: "I'll give you a little history about kind of where the Empty Bowls concept came from. So, there was actually an art teacher in Michigan in 1990 that was trying to help his students with solving a problem. They were trying to find a way to raise some money to support a food drive."

"And so what ended up evolving was that they kind of did a project to make some ceramic bowls for a fundraising meal, where they had people come and get just simple soup meal, bread, that kind of a thing. And just as a reminder that there's hunger in the world, that kind of boomed into really an international project that has kind of helped with providing support to food banks and soup kitchens and other organizations that are working to overcome hunger."

"So, we've kind of done our own take on that too. So, the event really is designed to kind of be set up like a soup kitchen, so it's, you know, just a very simple soup. Usually we have crackers or bread or something to that effect, milk and water, and, as in the tradition, anyone who comes is allowed to take home a ceramic bowl from our empty bowls event as well."

Riley: "And now, can you talk about the cost? What does it cost for people to get some delicious soup?"

Lindsay: "We are $10 for a 12 ounce bowl of soup. And then we also have a $15 option, which will get people a 12 ounce bowl of soup. In addition to that, they get three, 4 ounce, what we call flights, so, it's just four ounce bowls of soup, so they can kind of sample a couple different kinds of soup instead of being limited to just one."

Riley: "And now, as you mentioned, if they do purchase a ticket, it will allow them to choose a ceramic bowl to take home. Now, who made the bowls for this year's event?"

Lindsay: "So, we've got bowls coming in from several different places. I mean, we've been trying really hard to highlight them on our Facebook page, so you can check out Marshfield Area Empty Bowls on Facebook and see the bowls that we've got coming in this year."

"But it's a lot of local schools, local potters, I know, Grant Elementary donated some for us this year, Marshfield High School does. We also do event in January over at the Chestnut Center called Bowl-A-Rama. So, we've always got bowls coming in from that as well, which is really cool. Like I said, it's just a lot of local, local schools, you know, and individual potters in the area."

Riley: "And now, can you tell us a little bit about Soup or Socks as well? What kind of services does Super or Socks provide the community?"

Lindsay: "We are a food pantry, clothes closet and diaper bank. So, we are a choice pantry, which means our clients, when they come in, have a food list that they get to choose from. And basically we have them go through, they just cross off the items that either they won't use or they don't want."

"They also, in addition to that, we offer them household products every time they come to visit, as well as some personal care items as well. So, shampoo, conditioner, those kinds of things. We also offer feminine hygiene products to our clients if needed at every visit."

The diaper bank provides adult or children's incontinence items. And then our clothes closet is twice a year, seasonally, and clients who come in to participate in that can take home roughly about the equivalent of three outfits. So, we do always do socks and underwear, and then usually like three shirts, three pairs of pants, a pair of shoes or boots. We always have coats available, hats and mittens for the winter."

Riley: "Anything else to add?"

Lindsay: "You know, a couple things is, everybody knows the need is definitely growing. So, you know, kind of my plug always is, you know, even if it's not us, you know, reach out to the pantry in your area, see if they need help, whether it be food items, whether it be volunteers to donate."

"You know, like I said, the need is increasing everywhere, unfortunately, and I think it's great to see the communities come together and really help everybody, you know, in their community, out when they need it."

"The other thing I will plug just a little bit, next Saturday the 28th we are doing a kind of a kickoff event. So, we're having a our first annual formal fundraiser out at Bakerville bar. We're doing it as kind of a kickoff to empty bowls."

"So, we got some fun things planned for out there, some city wide baskets that we're doing to help some of the local pantries in our area as well. So, you know, we always encourage everybody to come check that out, too. And you can check out the baskets on our website. Got a store located at souporsocks.org and they can check out and buy tickets for stuff there."

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.