The Good Samaritan Ministries’ 14th Annual Empty Bowls Project drew hundreds to the Brownwood Coliseum Thursday afternoon as the Brown County Community gathered together to fight hunger and food insecurity.

Those participating in the fifth annual Professional Women’s Summit on Thursday were also served this year, a first for the event.

“Any time you go off in a different direction you don’t know how it’s going to be received, but the turnout was very impressive,” said GSM Executive Director Leesa Stephens. “We’re hoping everybody had a good time. At the end of the day it’s a fundraiser where 90% of the funds will stay right here in Brown County to help people in need.”

The Empty Bowls Project is the largest fundraiser of the year for Good Samaritan Ministries with 90% of the proceeds staying in Brown County to benefit local hunger ministries such as the Food Pantry, Food for Thought, Homebound Program, Homeless Boxes, the Deer Project, the Pig Project and the Mobile Food Pantry. The remaining 10% this year will be donated to Food for the Hungry.

For a $15 donation, ticket holders were treated to a larger meal than in years past as two bowls of soup, sides and desserts were available. More than 1,400 bowls were glazed by Kohler, as 47 painting parties and seven schools help prepare bowls for this year’s event.

Sponsors of the event include Roberson Rent-All and the Men and Women of the Brownwood Hospital Auxiliary at the Sour-er Hero level; Soup-er Bowl Champ sponsors Walmart, TXU Energy, Troy & Bettie Evans, Performance Pipe, 3M, United Supermarket, Skies Over Texas Winery, Wes-Tex Printing, Kohler Corporation, Rex’s Texas Lanes, North Lake Community Church, and Brookeshire’s; Soup-er Achiever sponsors Prosperity Bank, Citizens National Bank, Texas Clean, Grooms Feed & Seed, Lamar Advertising, Porter Insurance Agency, Blanket Methodist Church, and TexasBank; and Soup-er Star sponsors Howard Payne University, Attorney Jason Johnson, Comanche Electric Co-Op, Andy’s Pest Troopers, Hendrick Medical Center, Western Bank, and Dan & Lynn Humeniuk.