Empty Bowls Project fills lives with hope
When Lift For Life Gym opened in a small storefront in 1988, no one dreamed it would grow into the organization it is today. What started as a small weightlifting gym, open a couple of days a week for a handful of kids, has burgeoned into a free year-round after-school center. Open five evenings a week, LFL Gym serves hundreds of children ages 8 to 18 with athletic and social activities, a computer lab, tutoring and evening meals. However, in order to fill these children’s lives with hope, Lift for Life Gym relies on the generosity of the community. On Thursday, November 12, from 11:00-2:00, hundreds of people in the South County area will combine their efforts to stop hunger in our St. Louis region by attending an Empty Bowls meal hosted by Green Park Lutheran School. For a modest $10 donation, participants will fill up on soup donated from local restaurants, served in a bowl hand-made by the Green Park students. All proceeds will help to fill the budget needs of Lift for Life Gym’s evening meal program.
Area school educates many
Participants will keep the empty bowl, reminding them that there are always hungry mouths to feed in our community. Over 60,000 in St. Louis are served by the St. Louis Area Food Bank each week! (http://www.hungerinamerica.org/local_picture/data.jsp?id=4) The students at Green Park have benefitted by learning about the art of ceramics, but they will benefit most by learning to share what they have with others. Parents of the students have asked if they can “reserve” their child’s bowl on the day of the event, but the children are being taught that to serve others means giving something away. Many of the children who attend the Gym must be educated, as well. Most know virtually nothing about nutrition; many exist on snacks, fast food, or pre-packaged foods that lack adequate nutrition. The Gym is working to address these issues by providing nutritious dinners five nights a week. Local celebrities like Marshall Faulk are also dedicated to promote education; Faulk serves on the Gym’s Board of Directors. Empty Bowls is a nation-wide project of The Imagine/Render Group, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to positive and lasting social change through the arts, education, and projects that build community. Many local businesses have already donated to this educational project: Panera Bread Company, Bob Evans Restaurant, Quaker Oats, Glazed and Confused, Baked Goods, Krueger Pottery, Maryville University, O' Charley's, Fazio’s bakery, Federhoeffer’s, Royal Orleans, Bill Gianino’s, Giuseppe’s Ristorante, and Cafe Affton & Exquisite Catering.
Susan Walker, the representative from the Gym, can be contacted at 314.436.2337 or swalker@liftforlife.org. Information about the luncheon at Green Park Lutheran School can be found at www.greenparklutheranschool.org or by contacting Ashlyn Cunningham at (314) 849-0068 or acunningham@maryville.edu. More information about the Empty Bowls project can be found at www.emptybowls.net.
