Empty a bowl for Kokomo Urban Outreach
Soup fundraiser returns to help local youth succeed in life
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This Friday, the people of Kokomo will have a chance to eat some soup, take home a bowl, and support a good cause. Kokomo Urban Outreach’s (KUO) Empty Bowl fundraiser takes place on March 10. The money raised will help the organization teach kids to be respectful, responsible, reliable, and ready for life.
The kids of KUO’s Unlimited Potential (UP) program have been hard at work painting bowls for the event. Nearly 500 bowls will be available. All it takes to get one is to attend the Empty Bowl event at Cross America Community Center, 840 Daniel Dr., make a freewill donation, and enjoy some soup.
This year, soup will be provided by Dredayz Meats and Eats, Level 38 Lodge, Rozzi’s Catering, and Mountaintop Café.
“We did this event from 2015-2019, and we used to hold it at Rozzi’s Catering,” said Deanna Ancil, KUO’s administrative support specialist. “This year, it is at Cross America. It is a freewill donation, and it will be held from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. for lunch and 4-6:30 p.m. for dinner.
“You get soup, bread, and a cookie, and then you get to take home a small bowl that one of the kids has painted. We have kids participating from ages 3 all the way up to 18. We even have some kids at heart painting; older kids who wanted to paint, too. So, we have about 500 bowls to give away.”
It isn’t just the kids who got into the act, painting bowls. KUO assembled a line-up of special “celebrity” artists to produce bowls as well, which will be unveiled at the event.
“During the dinner, we will have a celebrity auction, featuring 13 bowls that local ‘celebrities’ have painted,” said Ancil. “We don’t reveal them until lunch, and they will be auctioned off during the evening meal, starting at 5:45 p.m.”
Originally the plan was to feature 12 celebrity bowls, but a 13th bowl was added recently – a returning bowl that has sentimental value to many.
“J.R. Dennis and his wife, Marla, painted a bowl in memory of their daughter, Preslie, right after she passed away in 2018,” said Ancil. “There was a big bidding battle for the bowl. It went for $4,000, and the winner gave it back to the Dennis family. It has been hanging in their house ever since.
“Recently, I went on WWKI to promote the event, and J.R. suggested they could give the bowl back to see if they can raise more money for Kokomo Urban Outreach. They are sold on our program. So, we now have a bonus 13th bowl.”
There also will be a “bowl battle” for People’s Choice supremacy. As Ancil explained, three local faith leaders agreed to paint bowls for the event, and attendees will get the chance to pick their favorite.
“So, there will be a little friendly competition between the faith leaders,” said Ancil. “During the lunch session, people can vote for their favorite bowl by dropping money in them, and we will announce the People’s Choice Award during the evening meal.”
The three competing faith leaders are Rev. Father Christopher Shocklee from St. Patrick’s Church, Joel Larison from Bridgeway, and Pastors Jacob and Tara Burgei from Fuel Church.
This year’s fundraiser attracted an impressive 39 sponsors. Their participation greatly impacts KUOs ability to provide programming for nearly 400 kids every week.
“Kokomo Urban Outreach has changed drastically over the years,” said Ancil. “Now, we focus completely on the kids. We have MiniUPs for 3-9 year-olds and UP for the older kids 10-18. This fundraiser helps keep the program going.
“Right now, we have 275 kids in the 10-18 program and another 100 in MiniUPs. And we don’t have to recruit; the kids bring their friends. Two weeks ago, we had 10 new kids join in one night. Word of mouth takes care of it. But we don’t want to have a waiting list for participation, so fundraisers like this ensure we can offer the program to all of them.”
The philosophy of the UP program is to teach children the Four Rs: being respectful, responsible, reliable, and ready.
“Our whole goal is to help the kids become self-reliant adults,” said Ancil. “So, when they graduate, we want them to go to either college or trade school or the military. We want to put them ahead of other applicants for good jobs by giving them the tools to succeed. And we want them to raise their families up with the skills we taught them.”
The main outreach for the UP program involves the kids doing work in the community in exchange for points they can spend to obtain gift cards, clothing, snacks, and a variety of other items KUO keeps in stock. Individuals and businesses can “hire” the kids to do basic yard work and chores. The demand for UPs crews is large. Already, March is nearly fully booked.
“All we have available at this point is part of Spring Break during the last week of March,” said Ancil. “Since the kids aren’t in school, we can have them work during the day if they are staying in town on Spring Break.
“The kids can do any basic outdoor clean-up. Manual labor. Picking up sticks. Raking leaves. We can put down mulch and rock. We can dig holes and trim bushes and clean out landscaping. If you want to get on the schedule, call now.”
To schedule an UP crew, call 765-252-9954. For additional information on KUO and its programming, visit www.kokomourbanoutreach.org.