Calendar of Events

Our online silent auction is back! Starting Friday, October 8 at 5pm sharp, you can shop an exciting selection of products and services from Asheville-area businesses — many of which are truly one-of-a-kind experiences. Stay up-to-date on the offerings by RSVPing to our FaceBook event. We’ll be sharing items as they come in… trust us, you won’t want to miss out on this years’ event!

Today in Western North Carolina, 1 in 6 people and 1 in 4 children faces an empty bowl.
But you can help fill those bowls at MANNA FoodBank’s 20th Annual Empty Bowls. We invite you to join us for this remarkable milestone, where we will celebrate twenty years of community, art, and collaboration while bringing awareness to the very real problem of hunger in Western North Carolina. Read more about this historic milestone year HERE. 

Guests select a bowl handmade by local artisans and take with them (in a to-go format for 2021) a seasonal meal of delicious soups, breads, and dessert. The souvenir bowl guests take home reminds them of the many WNC families that are currently struggling to afford groceries. 

Almost every part of the event is donated, including the event space, food, and local pottery and art. This allows MANNA to use event proceeds for our food distribution and nutrition programs, which serve the more than 100,000 food insecure households across our 16-county service area. Every dollar raised can help provide food for 4 meals. Since 2002, the collection generosity of our Empty Bowls guests, potters, sponsors, culinary partners, and everyone who has ever had a hand in the event, has allowed MANNA to provide the equivalent of 2.8 MILLION MEALS across Western North Carolina. 

COLLECTOR’S CORNER 

In addition to the souvenir soup bowls that ticket-holders select, guests may purchase special works of high-end craft and art at the Collector’s Corner. Collector’s Corner items are gallery-quality pieces selected by the artists. 100% of the proceeds from Collector’s Corner sales go directly to supporting MANNA’s mission of ending hunger in WNC. 

TICKETS 

For 2021, MANNA will use a walk-through format for Empty Bowls. Guests choose a one-hour time window that best suits their schedule, then arrive at the DoubleTree during that time window to select their bowl, choose their soups, and pick up bread + dessert — all while masked and distanced when inside the DoubleTree. Guests can choose a one-hour time window any time between 10:00am and 6:00pm, and can arrive any time during their chosen one-hour window. (Limited curbside service will be available for those who wish to remain in their cars.) 

Adult Ticket: $40 (includes your choice of one souvenir pottery bowl handmade by a local artist, your choice of two soups packaged to go, and bread + dessert packaged to go) 

Human Kids Add-on: $10 (includes one souvenir kid’s bowl pre-selected by MANNA, a package of ABC noodles, and a specially-created MANNA recipe to make Alphabet Soup at home) 

Fur Kids Add-on: $30 (guests choose a dog or cat package; includes one souvenir pottery pet bowl handmade by a local artist pre-selected by MANNA, yummy treats for your furry friend, and a custom pet tag recognizing that MANNA strives to fill every bowl in the house) 

Empty Bowls at Home Add-on: $30 (includes one souvenir pottery bowl handmade by a local artist pre-selected by MANNA, one package of Roots & Branches dried soup mix to make at home, soup and stew recipes from seven of WNC’s most beloved chefs, all packaged to go in a MANNA tote bag) 

Our online silent auction is back! Starting Friday, October 8 at 5pm sharp, you can shop an exciting selection of products and services from Asheville-area businesses — many of which are truly one-of-a-kind experiences. Stay up-to-date on the offerings by RSVPing to our FaceBook event. We’ll be sharing items as they come in… trust us, you won’t want to miss out on this years’ event!

Our online silent auction is back! Starting Friday, October 8 at 5pm sharp, you can shop an exciting selection of products and services from Asheville-area businesses — many of which are truly one-of-a-kind experiences. Stay up-to-date on the offerings by RSVPing to our FaceBook event. We’ll be sharing items as they come in… trust us, you won’t want to miss out on this years’ event!

Our online silent auction is back! Starting Friday, October 8 at 5pm sharp, you can shop an exciting selection of products and services from Asheville-area businesses — many of which are truly one-of-a-kind experiences. Stay up-to-date on the offerings by RSVPing to our FaceBook event. We’ll be sharing items as they come in… trust us, you won’t want to miss out on this years’ event!