PHOTOS: Full House, Empty Bowls: ALIVE! Sold-Out Fundraiser Surpasses $75K Goal for Alexandria’s Hungry

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is. It’s still empty, and that’s the point. Each empty bowl reminds us of every family in our city, who tonight will have nothing to put in that bowl.” Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins

ALEXANDRIA, VA — They arrived early on a clear, starlit Saturday night, the sun having set barely an hour earlier on a magnificent final day of February.

The Zebra team showed up fifteen minutes before the start time, and already the parking lot at Beth El Hebrew Congregation on Seminary Road was all but full. Inside, civic leaders, nonprofit advocates, and long-time Alexandria residents mingled easily in the packed hall, turning the fundraiser into something of a community reunion. The overflow crowd surveyed the handcrafted bowls and Silent Auction, waiting for the synagogue social hall doors to fling open.

The sellout evening paired Alexandria’s culinary talent with an urgent cause — helping Alexandrians facing food insecurity and housing instability. Tables soon filled with steaming bowls of hearty soups alongside salads, pastas and breads, all donated by some of the city’s top restaurants. 

The occasion? The ninth annual Empty Bowls, ALIVE!’S premier fundraiser. The casual, laid-back event—with many guests in jeans and sneakers—takes its purpose seriously.

A total of 214 attendees packed the hall February 28, raising more than $81,000 through ticket sales, sponsorships, and silent auction. The amount surged past the organization’s $75,000 goal.

Empty Bowls Alexandria is part of a global movement that raises money for non-profits working to fight hunger.  It is ALIVE!’s signature fundraiser, along with the StepALIVE! Walkathon in October. 

Each guest left with a keepsake: an empty bowl — all different colors, shapes, and sizes — handcrafted by local artisans. These bowls serve as a permanent, tactile reminder of the 20,000 needy individuals ALIVE! serves every month. 

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins pondered that symbolism as she addressed the audience.

“There’s that moment after I get my perfect bowl where, like all of you, I pause and I think about the reality that at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is. It’s still empty, and that’s the point. Each empty bowl is supposed to remind us of every family in our city that tonight will have nothing to put in that bowl. It reminds us of the parent who is pretending they are full tonight so their child can have seconds. It reminds us of a senior who is choosing between food and medication.”

Also spotted in the crowd were newly minted Virginia Delegate Kirk McPike, Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley, and City Councilman Canek Aguirre. They were joined by former Mayor Justin Wilson, former Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, and Sandy Marks, democratic nominee for the city council seat vacated by McPike and former chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee. 

The Zebra caught up with ALIVE! Executive Director Jennifer Ayers as she made the rounds, greeting attendees. She described how the evening’s proceeds will be put to work.

“This money supports all the things we do at ALIVE!” Ayers explained. “Food is our largest program. We’re serving about 20,000 individuals every month who are facing food insecurity. So this $81,000 will go to support our food program primarily, but also a little bit of everything else we do, such as financial assistance, our furniture program, and housewares. We also have a small transitional shelter for women.”

Ayers stressed that the organization works hard to ensure donations have maximum impact.

“Nearly every dollar here goes directly to helping somebody,” she said.

How have the needs changed since last year? Zebra asked.

“The numbers look about the same, but the patterns and where people are getting food and how often they are seeking food have changed,” Ayers responded.

By the end of the second quarter, ALIVE! is seeing a 33 percent increase in people seeking food assistance, along with more first-time visitors than in previous years.

“We also had a couple of periods in the year where people didn’t want to come to us out of fear. So we worked with other groups to make sure food gets out to where it needs to go,” Ayers added.

For Mayor Gaskins, ALIVE!’s mission is deeply personal. In a conversation with Zebra, she shared how her own childhood was defined by the very struggle ALIVE! seeks to ameliorate.

“I was a child navigating food insecurity. Despite my mom working multiple jobs, we struggled to make ends meet,” Gaskins recalled. “And so, to be a part of a community where we pull together, where we contribute as much as we can so that nobody else has to have the same story is really powerful and inspiring to me.”

Now more than a year into her first term, Gaskins has built her administration around the three H’s: housing, hunger and health — alongside workforce development and economic empowerment.

“It’s all connected,” she said. “In our case, my mom worked two and sometimes three jobs. But if your wages aren’t enough to pay the rent, to put food on the table, and to take care of your health, then every single day will continue to be a struggle. And that doesn’t just impact one person in the family, it impacts every single person in your family and in your community.”

Before dinner began, Cantor Jason Kaufman welcomed guests to his congregation just days before the Jewish celebration of Purim.

“At its core, Purim is a holiday of the Jewish people moving from vulnerability to protection,” Kaufman intoned. “That is what you do in this room. You help move our community from vulnerability to protection.”

ALIVE! — which stands for Alexandrians Involved Ecumenically — brings together fifty faith communities across the city, all working toward the same goal: alleviating suffering caused by poverty and improving the lives of neighbors in need.

Joan Hartman Moore is the ALIVE! representative for Agudas Achim Congregation and sits on the nonprofit’s board.

“The primary role of a congregational representative is to amplify the voice of ALIVE! in their congregation,” Moore explained. “It allows the congregants to support ALIVE! through financial donations or in-kind things like non-perishable foods, furniture, or housewares.”

Moore also coordinates two holiday food drives each year at her synagogue.

“The first is in conjunction with our holy day of Yom Kippur and the second is during our festival of Purim,” she explained. “Food for the poor and gifts to the needy are important elements of both holidays. So we tie those holidays together with our giving to ALIVE!”

As the late winter night drew to a close and guests departed with their handcrafted bowls, the message remained clear: the work of filling the empty bowls, the empty spaces, is constant. As Jennifer Ayers told Zebra: “Hunger doesn’t take a break, so we like to keep those donations coming all year long.”

Photos by Lucelle O’Flaherty/Zebra Press. Except pianist photo: Credit Vonda Delawie