For the first time since 2019, Good Samaritan Ministries’ Empty Bowl Project will take place inside the Brownwood Coliseum – from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, March 3. Limited to a drive-by only event the last two years due to COVID, GSM Executive Director Leesa Stephens is overjoyed to be returning to the transitional format.

Looking back at the last two years, Stephens said, “The community was amazing. They came out and supported even a drive-by event last year on a rainy day. We exceeded any goal that we had set. But you don’t have the excitement that you have when everybody’s together in the Brownwood Coliseum. If we seem almost giddy with excitement to be back in the Brownwood Coliseum, it’s because we are. We want everyone to come and learn more about who we are at Good Samaritan.”

The first Thursday in March is an earlier date than in years past but could be more conducive to “soup weather.”

“We typically still have some cold weather in March,” Stephens said. “We’re extremely early this year and we’re grateful to Howard Payne University for allowing us to use the coliseum. They’re getting ready to embark on another phase of renovations, so we appreciate Troy Drummond and his crew over there for letting us do this.”

The Empty Bowls Project serves as GSM’s largest fundraiser of the year and 90% of the proceeds stay in Brown County and benefit local hunger ministries such as the Food Pantry, Food for Thought, Homebound Program, Homeless Boxes, the Deer Project, the Pig Project and the Mobile Food Pantry.

The Food for Thought program is providing meals to 250 kids a week on 15 campuses, the Deer Project has generated 19,283 pounds of venison this year, and 28 swine were recently purchased at the Brown County Youth Fair in conjunction with the Pig Project.

The remaining 10% is donated to one of three international hunger relief organizations and this year GSM has selected Samaritan’s Purse, which takes part in a variety of ministry projects nationally and internationally.

Empty Bowls meals will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., or until sold out, for a donation of $10 per bowl. For $20, those interested can take part in a bowl preview at 10 a.m.

“It’s from 10 to 11 for those who painted a bowl and would like to get your bowl, or if you would like to be the first one to see all bowls,” Stephens said.

Empty Bowls is returning to its roots this year with just an afternoon lunch session after also offering a meal at dinner the three years prior to the pandemic.

“The meal is simple – soup, crackers and water,” Stephens said. “We’re going back to the basics. We felt like we’re starting over in a sense, so we thought with us re-entering back into doing it live that a lunch event would serve us well.”

This year, just 500 bowls were ordered compared to the 1,000 in years past. Some were painted during a community bowl painting party on Jan. 22. The Spirit of Texas Winery has bowl painting parties planned for Feb. 4 and Feb 6, while Ten 10 Mile Productions is hosting an event on Feb. 5. The Young Leaders of Brown County, the Seniors Citizens Center, Girl Scouts troops, and retired teachers are among other groups who will be painting bowls.

“In the past we’ve ordered about 1,000 bowls to have different groups paint, but this year because the event is so early in the year, we have a very small window of time to get them painted, get them to Kohler for them to fire, and get them ready for the event,” Stephens said. “We only ordered 500, but everyone who comes to the event will get a bowl. We still have some ceramic bowls from last year, so we have plenty of bowls. But this year we only bought 500 to paint, and they went really fast.”

GSM is still welcoming soup sponsors, Stephens added.

“People love the area restaurants to bring out their soup, and over the last two years we contacted soup sponsors and asked how we could drive business back to them during the pandemic and they gave us lots of coupons,” Stephens said. “We felt like that was a way we could help them during the times when we just didn’t know, so many things we just didn’t know. This year we have a lot of soup sponsors lined up, but we’re still trying to get soup sponsors signed up.”

Businesses with a commercial kitchen interested in being a soup sponsor can contact Stephens at 325-643-2273.

Volunteers are also being sought to serve soup and pass out bowls between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Those who would like to assist can contact Stacy Walker, volunteer coordinator, at 325-643-2273.

Also, from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 19 GSM will be holding a special Empty Bowls Project sale in the Resale Store.

“If you come to Empty Bowls you’ll get a VIP pass then you’ll get in early to the resale event,” Stephens said.

For more information on the event, visit www.goodsambwd.org.