We should do something with soup." That simple notion shared at a store-event planning session for Burlap Horse in Boerne, TX, led to one of this gift and home shop's most successful in-store events: The 2009 Boerne Empty Bowls Project.
      The idea was to have fashionable, low-cost bowls, fill them with soup, and sell them to benefit the hunger-based organizations in Boerne. Research led to a nonprofit called The Imagine/Render Group, which founded the "Empty Bowls" project- a grassroots effort to raise money and awareness to help end hunger and food insecurity. By making a donation to the Empty Bowls project, Burlap Horse was allowed to use the Empty Bowls name for its event.
     While most Empty Bowls events use clay bowls fired by local artists, store owners Jeff and Melissa Haberstrohopted to purchase brightly colored, hand-painted ceramic bowls from Wellspring's "Wellspring of Colour" line, which came in four color options and fit well into the store's product offerings, according to Melissa Haberstroh.
     Three local restaurants were asked to provide the soup of their choice for the event. Each restaurant was given direct-mail postcards featuring an image of the Wellspring bowls to use in their marketing efforts. Burlap Horse also heavily promoted the event through direct-mail pieces, bag stuffers, press releases and inclusion in various television and web-based community calendars.
     The Boerne Empty Bowls Project took place on the Sunday before Christmas, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The soups were picked up by Burlap Horse staff that morning, placed into chafing dishes, and labeled with the name of the soup and its donating restaurant. Bowls were sold for$15 each, filled with the soup of the customer's choice, then washed and wrapped to take home in signature Burlap Horse tissue and bags. 

     Some customers purchased soup sets for their homes; others bought them to give as gifts for weddings, graduation, housewarmings or Christmas. "One customer purchased a bowl for each person on her Christmas list and included a boxed soup mix in the package," relates Melissa Haberstroh."
     The most challenging aspect of this event was inventory," she says, acknowledging that estimating the number of bowls proved to be difficult." With what seemed a comfortable number, we began with 64 bowls and were sold out before noon. Fortunately, we purchased paper bowls as replacements and took orders for the ceramic bowls. In total, we sold nearly 200 bowls and had underestimated the inventory by 114 pieces!"
     The event raised $1,700 for the Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries - a nonprofit, Christian food ministry that's part of a larger network that matches donations; the money Burlap Horse raised was able to sponsor a semi-trailer truckload of food for families in the community. The store plans to make its Empty Bowls Project an annual event; in fact, the2010 event is slated for December 19.

- Kathy Krassner