Story and photos by Allison M. Perrine
RED BANK – The Empty Bowls Project collaborated with Monmouth County Arts Council’s Teen Arts Festival to host its second joint fundraiser to benefit the JBJ Soul Kitchen and the Art Alliance of Monmouth County and feed its community.
On May 14 and 15, Monmouth County community members and visitors came to the organic gardens of JBJ Soul Kitchen to dine and admire handcrafted bowls. Participants each made a donation of $20 and received a “pay it forward” coupon, which entitled them to select one of the hundreds of handmade bowls; this year there were 620. These donations help feed in-need people at the Soul Kitchen.
The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen is a community restaurant featuring fresh, healthy ingredients. Soul Kitchen serves meals to in-need customers through volunteer work or to paying customers through donation; about 150 meals were served this weekend. Many of the vegetables and herbs used in meals are grown in the gardens in front of the restaurant, including asparagus, strawberries, chive, golden oregano, hard neck garlic and more.
“We promise to treat all of our customers with dignity and respect, while uniting communities and forming healthy and lasting relationships through food,” said Lou Morreale, general manager at Soul Kitchen.
Not only did the JBJ Soul Kitchen benefit from this, but the Art Alliance did as well. The Art Alliance of Monmouth County is a nonprofit, member-owned and operated gallery and studio in Red Bank, whose mission is to promote the advancement of the visual arts and provide exhibition, studio and classroom space.
Mil Wexler Kobrinski is a board member of the Art Alliance, as well as the Empty Bowls Project coordinator, ceramic artist and painter. Her MFA thesis project focused on Empty Bowls, which is a project of Image/RENDER, a 501(c) 3 organization, consisting of an international grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. The mission is to create positive and lasting change through the arts, education and projects that build the community.
The bowls were created and decorated by artists and students, some of which were made at the annual Teen Arts Festival workshops in March. This is the second year for the Empty Bowl Project event.
With the help of a Holiday Express team, a party of special needs students traveled to a local pottery studio to glaze bowls, and Ceramic Supply of Lodi generously donated clay.
According to Manda Gorsegner, arts education manager at Monmouth Arts, at least 180 teens participated in the Empty Bowls Workshop 2016 Monmouth Teen Arts Festival. “Mil’s workshop was overflowing both days of the festival last year, so I knew we’d have to have maximum capacity for both days of the festival this year at her workshop,” said Gorsegner. “We planned accordingly, and had the maximum 90 students each day in one workshop. There were a few extra students here and there squeaking in, so I would estimate over 180 bowls came directly from our Monmouth Teen Arts Festival.”
Members of the Art Alliance of Monmouth County have participated and supported the event at every stage. “I am proud that members of the Art Alliance are working in the community to feed those in need. As artists we have an obligation toward social action,” said Wexler Kobrinski.
“The important thing is that everybody has been meeting and working on these bowls, coming together as a community with a purpose and a mission,” said Wexler Kobrinski. One recent estimate states the number of individuals experiencing food insecurity in Monmouth County at more than 125,000 individuals. Although such suffering is not necessarily visible, it is very real, especially to those who experience it, according to Wexler Kobrinski.
However, the event isn’t limited to those who are suffering. Judy Green, for example, is a resident of Arlington, Virginia, who came to Soul Kitchen with her sister. “My sister told me about it and she was very excited,” said Green. On her thoughts about the event, Green said that it’s a great charitable organization. “It does good work in the community and I’m excited to be able to support it,” she said.
“Part of the Soul Kitchen mission is to raise awareness of food insecurity in one’s own community; a project like this is a great way to shed light on community interests and needs,” said Marylou Caputo, JBJ Soul Kitchen’s community coordinator. “We love art at Soul Kitchen. Art and Soul Kitchen go together nicely.”
As far as future plans, Morreale shared that the JBJ Soul Kitchen has plans for an event on June 16 this year. “The Day of Hope-Night of Soul event is a town-wide initiative inviting the community to support the businesses that support the JBJ Soul Kitchen and its mission,” Morreale said. “June 16th has been set aside as a day for consumers to shop and dine in Red Bank at the businesses who are participating in this event.”
For more information about Soul Kitchen or the Day of Hope-Note of Soul event, visit jbjsoulkitchen.org; for more information about the Art Alliance, visit artallianceofmonmouth.org.
