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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">October 20. 2005<?xml:namespace
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Press Release: <?xml:namespace
prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><?xml:namespace prefix = u1 /><u1:place
u2:st="on"><u1:City u2:st="on">Placerville</st1:City></u1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on"><u1:State
u2:st="on">CA</st1:State></st1:place><o:p></o:p></P></u1:State></u1:place>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on"><u1:City u2:st="on"><u1:place u2:st="on">El
Dorado</st1:place></st1:City></u1:place></u1:City> Peace and Justice
Community<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Rich Waters 530 622
6900<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Diana Stauffer 530 642
1120<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Carla Turoff 530 622
9459<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">5th Annual Empty Bowls Supper
Fundraiser-Saturday, November 12, 5-8pm Mother Lode Lion's <u1:address
u2:st="on"><u1:Street u2:st="on">Club, <st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street
w:st="on">4701 Missouri Flat Road</st1:Street>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Placerville</st1:City></st1:address><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"></u1:Street></u1:address> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Living in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:PlaceName
u2:st="on">El Dorado</st1:PlaceName></u1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on"><u1:PlaceType
u2:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place></u1:PlaceType></u1:place>, not
many of us experience real hunger.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Like the hunger of the evacuees escaping the wrath of Hurricane Katrina;
like the hunger of <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>villagers made
homeless by the recent earthquake in Kashmir; like the hunger of war and drought
victims in <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>, like the hunger of the
poor.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Not many of us have personal
knowledge of the kind of hunger suffered by the estimated eight
hundred fifty million people throughout the world described by the United
Nations as “chronically hungry.”<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">But hunger does exist in
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:PlaceName
u2:st="on">El Dorado</st1:PlaceName></u1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on"><u1:PlaceType
u2:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place></u1:PlaceType></u1:place>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>According to Elly Kozlowski of the Upper
Room Dining Room on Broadway, an average 100 people a day visit the dining room
for an evening meal.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And, since
moving to its present Broadway location three and a half years ago, the Upper
Room – a <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>church and
community-sponsored organization originally housed in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><u1:City u2:st="on"><u1:place
u2:st="on">Placerville</st1:place></st1:City></u1:place></u1:City>’s St.
Patrick’s Church – has served 100,000 people seeking a nutritious meal, a
friendly face, a bit of warmth.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Serving the county’s low-income
population, The Upper Room Dining Room will benefit from this year’s “Empty
Bowls” event, sponsored by the El Dorado Peace and Justice Community – a
non-profit 501c3 organization - to take place November 12, at Mother Lode Lions
Club at the intersection of Missouri Flat and Pleasant Valley Roads.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Half the proceeds from the event
will go to the Upper Room; the other half will benefit Heifer International, a
humanitarian organization based in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on"><u1:State u2:st="on"><u1:place
u2:st="on">Arkansas</st1:place></st1:State></u1:place></u1:State>, which –
through livestock donations and education – has provided assistance to seven
million families in 125 countries since its founding in 1944.
Beneficiaries of previous local Empty Bowls events include SHARE, the Upper Room
and the international group Mercy Corps.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The idea for Empty Bowls occurred
to two <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:State
u2:st="on">Michigan</st1:place></st1:State></u1:State></u1:place> ceramics
instructors, John Hartum and Lisa Blackburn, in early 1991, when a local food
drive failed to meet its goal.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Hartum had his students throw 120 bowls to use at a high school staff
fundraising dinner.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Dinner
participants were allowed to keep the bowls they used during the dinner as
reminders of the hunger existing in the world.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>From such humble beginnings, the Empty
Bowls Project developed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Today, the
project’s work is carried out across the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><u1:country-region u2:st="on"><u1:place u2:st="on">United
States</st1:country-region></u1:place></u1:country-region> and beyond, with the
help of such organizations as Oxfam <st1:country-region
w:st="on">America</st1:country-region> and the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Unitarian</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Universalist</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Church</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">For a suggested donation of $15 -
$50, “Empty Bowls” participants share a meal of homemade soup, bread and butter
and a beverage.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The donation also
entitles the participants to keep their “souvenir” ceramic bowls, fashioned by
local potters and school students.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Coloma Celtic, a local band
performing Irish and American folk music will provide entertainment.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Children under 10 will be
admitted free, but will not receive a “souvenir” bowl; and nobody will be turned
away for lack of funds.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Empty Bowls will begin at 5
and serve until 8 p.m. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
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