The River City Food Bank is hosting its eighth annual Empty Bowls fundraiser and Potters’ Market events on March 7 and 8 at the Sacramento Masonic Temple to raise awareness about hunger in Sacramento County.

Eileen Thomas, the executive director of River City Food Bank, said she finds the communities coming together most rewarding. “It’s a wonderful melding of community effort to help the hungry,” she said.

“Preparation is huge – we have over 100 volunteers, seven restaurants providing soups, and 1,500 bowls,” Thomas said.

On Monday from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., there will be wine and hors d’oeuvres along with gourmet soups.

The restaurants participating in Monday’s event include Scott’s Seafood, Vizcaya, R15 and Michaelangelo’s.

Tickets are sold out for this event.

On Tuesday, there will be two lunches that people can attend, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. with more soups and desserts.

The restaurants participating in Tuesday’s lunches include The Broiler Steakhouse, L Wine Lounge and Restaurant, Greek Village Inn, Scott’s Seafood, Lucca, Michaelangelo’s and Café Bernardo.

Tickets are $30 per person.

At both events, a ticket allows you to choose a hand-crafted bowl and fill it with soup.

According to Empty Bowls co-chair Kelli Whitcomb-Weston, there are around 50 different donors who provided the handcrafted bowls, ranging from groups of professional and amateur artists to school groups. The Nor-Cal Woodturners, Christian Brothers High School, Vista Del Lago High School, American River College, Sierra College, Natomas Charter School, and Sacramento Country Day are several of the many groups that have donated the bowls.

“It’s amazing to see the variety and quality of bowls from both professional and student artists,” Whitcomb-Weston said.

Shannan Berg, chef at Café Bernardo in Midtown, will be serving a soup with potato, roasted red bell pepper and créme fraiche chives. “We’re going to make 20 gallons of soup,” Berg said.

This will be her third year at the event.

The empty bowl symbolizes the bowls that are empty when there isn’t enough food for people.

“I think it’s really cool, the (symbol) of the empty bowl,” Berg said.

When Berg was younger, she relied on the food bank because her family was homeless for two years.

“I just love it, it’s a great event,” Berg said. “It’s different, it’s much more personal.”

According to Thomas, River City Food Bank is expecting to have 1,300 guests, 400 at each event, and at least 50 percent of last year’s event attendees will be returning this year.

Empty Bowls events are nationwide.

“It benefits food banks and various hunger organizations,” Whitcomb-Weston said.

Empty Bowls events originated in Michigan and have been in Sacramento for eight years, Thomas said.

The River City Food Bank building was destroyed by fire last October, but the nonprofit organization is not giving up. “This year we are trying to rebuild,” Thomas said.

River City Food Bank hopes to raise $100,000. According to Thomas, the money from the event will help with the operations budget and expand the existing programs, such as the Nutrition Cooking Class.

The Nutrition Cooking Class teaches low-income families how to make nutritious meals, revolving around the food River City Food Bank gives.

The Food Bank promotes nutritional, good healthy meals for anyone in the community.

Today’s recession has made it hard for families to get access to food. “Food money goes into the gas tank,” Thomas said.

River City Food Bank serves 40,000 people a year and more than 3,000 a month, according to Thomas. “Hunger is still very much a part of the community,” Thomas said. “We become a very important resource for people.”

The Sacramento Masonic Temple is located at 1123 J St.

To purchase tickets for the events or make a donation to River City Food Bank, click here.

Both the Trinity Cathedral Bookshop at 2620 Capitol Avenue, and Avid Reader at the Tower, 1600 Broadway are also selling tickets to the events.