Organizer Praises Hearts Of Those Helping
By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor
"Empty Bowls" - benefiting the hungry in East Texas - is a matter of the heart, said event founder Melissa Brigman on Thursday. Approximately 300 people will eat soup and bread at the event while buying handmade bowls to benefit the East Texas Food Bank, People Attempting to Help and the St. Paul Children's Foundation.
Religion Editor
"Empty Bowls" - benefiting the hungry in East Texas - is a matter of the heart, said event founder Melissa Brigman on Thursday. Approximately 300 people will eat soup and bread at the event while buying handmade bowls to benefit the East Texas Food Bank, People Attempting to Help and the St. Paul Children's Foundation.
Mrs. Brigman is the director of missions at Marvin United Methodist Church where "Empty Bowls" will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday.
"There is a spiritual benefit to the Empty Bowls drive," she said. "Deep inside we all have a place in our hearts where we know we should give," she said. "And when we give, that place grows larger. People who give have the largest hearts in the world. This is the way God does it."
Representatives of the three agencies to benefit from Empty Bowls will speak. Mrs. Brigman will bring the devotional based on Matthew 25:35, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in."
The emphasis on the words of Jesus is very important, she said. The drive is growing steadily each year including more citizenry, but Empty Bowls will always be a "faith-based" event, she said.
"That's important to us at Marvin," she said. "We're supposed to be putting our faith into action. Even the things we share Saturday night will have that (perspective)."
Robert Bush, executive director of the food bank; Christiana Fulsom, executive director of PATH; and Saleen Hearon, executive director of the St. Paul foundation, will represent their agencies. The children of Marvin have collected cans of food for months and will hold the "Race To Collect Food" a model car racing "final" at Pirtle Hall at 6:05 p.m. said Mrs. Brigman.
"They're calling it MASCAR - Marvin Association of Soup Can Auto Racing," she said, "and Saturday is the big finale where a winner is declared."
The fun will be augmented by the donation of 16 types of soup and varieties of bread from area restaurants, said Mrs. Brigman. But the fun and crowning event addresses a serious need: Hunger.
"This is such an important mission to us," she said. "The basic things Christ did was meeting people's needs. He healed those who were ill, and fed those who were hungry."
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