26 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday October 26, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Community support key to success of Empty Bowl event Thanks to tremendous support of the community, the inaugural Empty Bowls was a SOUPer event. Let no-one doubt that our community is one that cares to provide local solutions for local people who become homeless. The Empty Bowl event is a symbolic and literal opportunity to give, helping to fill the bowls of the homeless. At Sunday's event, the skilled craftsmanship of professional potter's bowls vied with the vibrant enthusiasm that radiated from school children's bowls, as guests chose their favourite bowl to use and to keep. And then off to sample soups as the fragrant aromas of tasty soup offerings from 17 chefs beckoned folks on to the sampling. They were not disappointed, the soups and buns too were fabulous. The ticket price was a minimum $50 donation and over 500 people enthusiastically joined our soup line in support of Home Suite Hope, a local charity that provides affordable housing and facilitated support for people who are homeless. A very heartfelt thank you to our potters, students and schools, restaurants, chefs, and our sponsors, as well as our hosts, Appleby College, and volunteers, all of whose combined efforts made the vision of the event committee become a reality. To the chefs from Fishbones Oyster Bar & Grill, Funky Thai Restaurant, Jonathans of Oakville, Julia's Ristorante, O'Finn's Irish Temper, Seasons Restaurant, Sharkeys World Café, Stoney's Bread Company, Tikki Tikka Indian Restaurant, The Twisted Fork, Via Mia Italian Restaurant, Campbell Soup Company, Jennifer's Kitchen, At Lorraine's Table, Sodexho Food Services, The Cook's Companion, and Whole Foods Market Oakville: a hearty thank you. When we speak of a social service partnership with the community, Appleby College truly walks the talk there can be no finer example of empowering community efforts than what you have done in making our Empty Bowls event come to life for our community. The Presenting Sponsor, Lockwood Chrysler, and our patrons Mary and Jay Lockwood have been with us from the beginning, and their unwavering support is what building community is all about. Our Champion Sponsors, Rogers/ Complete Communications, Crackpot Studio, The UPS Store, and Campbell's Soup: wow we really made it happen. And thank you to our other Sponsors: BlueTree Direct, Tino Gaetani Carusi, Glen and Anne Herring, Adam Mallone, Information Technologies, Ideasmiths, Frank Invidiata, Retirement Residences Group, Signs Alive, Whole Foods Market Oakville. And to contributors: COBS Bread, Higgins Rentals, LifeSource Water, PCL Plastics, Pottery Supply House, Rich Foods, RP Graphics and The Salvation Army. These efforts were all furthered by the support of the Oakville Beaver who as media sponsor allowed us to keep the community informed and engaged in our work. Together, these community efforts have powered our work in helping people who become homeless find their feet again. Thank you WENDY PERKINS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HOME SUITE HOPE SHARED LIVING ON BEHALF OF THE PLANNING COMMITTEE: CARI MACLEAN EVENT CHAIR, DWIGHT LACEY, DEDE HACKING, JODI FRENCH, LINDA FESTINGSMITH, MARY ELLEN FREDERICK, CATHERINE RAAFLAUB, BARBARA ROSS, LORRAINE YATES, GINNY SNOW, JEN LENARD BENSON, EVELINE DEAR, GLEN HERRING, VERNA DALGLEISH