Spring was in the air Saturday, as people, young and old, gathered in Pointe-Claire to fundraise for a good cause.
It was all part of the Empty Bowls initiative, benefitting Corbeille de Pain.
“It’s an initiative that was started by potters actually, to bring awareness to food insecurity,” said Anik Vigneault, Corbeille de Pain’s communications coordinator. “So we decided it aligns really, really well with our mandate and raison d’être.”
Around 70 local potters donated over 600 handmade bowls to the non-profit.
People were able to buy a bowl at $25, and with that they also got a homemade soup.
All of the money donated goes right back into Corbeille de Pain’s various programs.
“We have community kitchens where we build people’s skills to be more autonomous with food, while also accessing generous amounts of food to eat on place and take back home,” said Virginie Grenier-Deschênes, Corbeille de Pain’s executive director. “We also have community gardens in different areas in the West Island.”
The annual event is the non-profit’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
The organization says it hopes the fundraiser will not only raise money, but raise awareness about the food insecurity issue on the West Island.
“We are the oldest demographic in the Montreal region and a lot of our seniors on fixed pensions, with inflation, are suffering and food insecurity you can’t even see and it’s mostly our senior demographic,” said Tim Thomas, Pointe-Claire’s mayor.
Jacques-Cartier MNA Greg Kelley who attended the fundraiser said it’s important for the community to support organizations like Corbeille de Pain, because more and more people are relying on food banks.
“It’s really troubling the number of Quebecers who rely on a food bank each year — it’s one in 10. So we’re here to help support people who are in a situation of food insecurity, make sure that we can raise money for food banks, it’s extremely important,” he said.
The fundraiser raised a total of $18,500 for the organization.