POST FALLS — This year's Empty Bowls set a fundraising record of about $9,000 to fight food insecurity for kids, 3rd Avenue Marketplace Executive Director Leslie Orth said Monday.   

“This was the highest-grossing Empty Bowls event we’ve ever had,” she said.

The annual Empty Bowls event was held March 27 at the Kootenai County Fire and Rescue training campus.

Ceramic bowls for the event were designed by the artists at Hands to Art in Coeur d’Alene. The event funds the Children’s Weekend Backpack Program, which provides weekend meals for hundreds of children in the Post Falls School District who face food insecurity. Food provided through the program helps feed a family of up to eight people over the weekend. 

The program’s impact is felt far beyond the event itself. 

Kristi Barnhart, a school counselor at Post Falls Middle School, shared how the program provides hope and stability for local students.

"For some children, this program is the one thing they look forward to each week — a steady, dependable source of nourishment and hope in their lives," Barnhart said.

One student asked if Barnhart had filled her backpack yet. When the reply was yes, the student was so excited, she couldn't stop moving.

"When I told her it was already in there, she lit up and started dancing right there in the hall — pure joy over something so simple, yet so meaningful," Barnhart said.

Donations are still being accepted at 3rdAvenueMarketplace.org.

A $25 donation will feed a child for two weekends and a $50 donation will support a child for an entire month.

    The 3rd Avenue Marketplace's Empty Bowls fundraiser raised money to provide children with food over the weekends in the Post Falls School District.
  

    This year's Empty Bowls event brought more money than ever before to fight food insecurity by feeding children over the weekends in the Post Falls School District. The 3rd Avenue Marketplace reported raising nearly $9,000.