- May 10, 2025
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Rita Lewis, owner of the Linger Lodge, and Gretchen Nasman serve gumbo.
Photo by Lesley DwyerEach ticket buys one bowl, or bowls can be purchased for $20 each.
Photo by Lesley Dwyer
Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee holds its annual Empty Bowls event on Main Street at Lakewood Ranch.
Photo by Lesley DwyerNicky Danner serves hot chili for Gecko's Grill & Pub.
Photo by Lesley DwyerRonald Emrit plays the steel pan.
Photo by Lesley DwyerLakewood Ranch residents Jennifer Fitzgerald and Jean Hritz attend Empty Bowls every year.
Photo by Lesley DwyerMaribeth Phillips, CEO of Meals on Wheels PLUS, says the main goal of the event each year is to bring awareness to the Food Bank of Manatee.
Photo by Lesley DwyerPalmetto's Tina Fisher has a bowl for every occassion because she's attended so many Empty Bowl events.
Photo by Lesley DwyerBradenton's Lisa Lorander and Lakewood Ranch's Joanne Bevers are trying the broccoli cheddar soup from Publix.
Photo by Lesley DwyerDel Webb residents Kathy Garabedian and Marisa Radley say the New England clam chowder from Metz is delicious.
Photo by Lesley DwyerGuests decide on which bowl to take home from Empty Bowls on Nov. 8.
Photo by Lesley DwyerEsplanade at Artisan Lakes resident JoAnn Cundy says her community is a strong supporter of Meals on Wheels PLUS. Each year, residents pack 400 shoeboxes with non-food items for the program's participants before Christmas.
Photo by Lesley DwyerLakewood Ranch's Angela and Delbert Gist are attending Empty Bowls for the first time this year.
Photo by Lesley DwyerMike Gerbasio has been a Meal on Wheels PLUS volunteer for four years.
Photo by Lesley DwyerParrish’s Tina Fisher has a bowl for everything because she believes in feeding the hungry.
Not only does she attend the Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee’s Empty Bowls event each year, she also attends an Empty Bowls event in Yancey County, North Caroline each year where she spends the summers.
For every ticket purchased, one bowl is received.
“I have a lot of bowls,” she said while holding another new one in her hand.
Empty Bowls is a sold-out event each year at Main Street on Lakewood Ranch, but it’s a national movement that was started in 1990 by John Hartom, an art teacher in Michigan.
Fisher wasn’t only looking at each and every bowl to decide which one to take home, she was also eying the different glazes and shapes because she’s recently taken up pottery making.
Her goal is to donate a bowl for next year’s event.
Maribeth Philips, CEO of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, said the event raises funds but it also raises awareness of the Food Bank of Manatee, which is even more crucial to the community this year following a devastating hurricane season.
“When something catastrophic happens, the outpouring of support is just heartwarming,” Phillips said. “Manatee County takes care of Manatee County.”
