By Nathan Ham
Watauga High School is the place to be this Saturday evening for the 17th annual Empty Bowls fundraiser. The fundraiser will benefit the Hunger and Health Coalition in Boone.
For a $20 donation, each person receives a handmade bowl by a Watauga High School student that they can then fill with food from numerous local restaurants.
There will also be live music and a silent auction. The event will last from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.
All of the money raised at the event goes to the Hunger and Health Coalition, which has been around in Watauga County since 1982. The coalition offers food boxes and fresh fruits and vegetables as well as numerous life-sustaining medications such as inhalers, anti-depression medicine, anti-anxiety medicine, antibiotics and other medicines. All of this is done in an effort to make life a little easier on those that are in poverty or struggling to make ends meet.
In 2017, the Hunger and Health Coalition worked hard to help a lot of people in their time of need. They packed a total of 11,385 food boxes, provided 43,916 to-go meals and donated 125,528 pounds of produce. They also fed 215 families in their annual Thanksgiving dinner.
The coalition distributed a total of 18,150 prescriptions that valued at over $2.6 million to their clients.