Empty Bowls fundraiser for Glory Hall warms to the occasion with record turnout
- Mark Sabbatini
- 12 hours ago
- 5 min read
Moving event to November’s "soup weather" instead of April helps shelter at a time when concerns about homelessness are increasing in Juneau
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Sara Kveum says she’s seen the struggles of people camping outside her workplace at the Teal Street Center for the past several months until Friday, when police and city workers cleared out the encampment. On Saturday evening she and a friend chipped in to help the Glory Hall homeless shelter next door by picking out handmade soup bowls at an annual fundraiser.
"We saw them a lot more and they were struggling a lot more," said Kveum, who has worked at the Teal Street Center for the past two years. The center houses several social service agencies, and has allowed campers access to water and restrooms among its assistance efforts.
More than 360 people attended the Empty Bowls fundraiser at Centennial Hall, which is the most longtime organizers say they’ve seen in the event’s 19-year history. Mariya Lovishchuk, who organized this year’s event and was the Glory Hall’s executive director for 15 years until stepping down last year, said one of the reasons for the high turnout may be moving the event to November instead of its past tradition of April.
"I really do think that fall is more of a soup time than spring," she said. "It's not sunny, it's dark, so what else are you going to do? And also I think people just really care and want to do something good right now. And this is a way to do that."
Last year’s event, in comparison, sold 210 tickets and raised an estimated $47,500, including sponsorships and other contributions such as a silent auction. The event is the Glory Hall’s largest annual fundraiser for the agency which has an annual operating budget of roughly $1 million.
The bowls made this year by local artists, exhibited on two long rows of tables, ranged from thin wood carvings resembling teacup saucers to giant ceramic tureens capable of holding enough soup to feed a small village. Rachel Riley picked out one of the latter, with a deep maroon exterior and light-green rim and interior.
"It was like at the end of the loop and I had a different, more typical bowl, and I saw this and I was like ‘Are you kidding me? Yes, please,’" she said. "It's gorgeous and I'm in the process of trying to buy a home, so I figured this would just be a perfect housewarming gift to myself."
Robin Mulvey picked out a more traditional-size ceramic bowl that was green with dark wavy stripes because "I love trees and they reminded me of tree rings." Her daughter Maple, 8, said she picked one of the smaller bowls with a simpler design because "I want it because I can hold stuff in it."
Soup made by several local restaurants — and generally served in disposable bowls rather than the handcrafted ones for sanitary reasons — ranged from traditional clam chowder to a tongue-twitching dill pickle. Live classical music was performed by a student ensemble, and silent auctions for donated items and handmade desserts took place along a far wall of the convention center’s main ballroom.
The Glory Hall encountered heightened difficulties this year due to the increase in people camping along Teal Street, the second year encampments have persisted due to a city-sanctioned homeless campsite being closed down due to reports of rampant illegal activity. The shelter halted meals and most other daytime access to people not staying at the facility in late August as a result. A more secure front entrance is being constructed to allow such access to resume now that the city’s cold-weather emergency shelter that operates overnight is open for the winter.
The Glory Hall’s parent agency, Juneau Housing First Collaborative, operates 99 housing units in addition to the 55-bed shelter that was fully occupied every day of the past year, said Jorden Nigro, executive director of the Zach Gorden Youth Center, who was the emcee for Saturday’s fundraiser. The shelter also provides 150 to 190 meals daily, some provided to people at sites besides the shelter.
"I think something that is important to think about is that between 2023 and 2024 HUD estimates that nationally there was nearly a 20% rise in folks who are homeless in this country," she said. "So I think sometimes when we're in a small town we think maybe it's just here, or maybe we don't realize that this is happening across the country. But it is, which I feel like — with the amount of people here tonight — you all might be aware of this, which is really lovely because I think part of solving the issue of house business is being aware of it to start with."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
