Harvest Manitoba has enlisted some star power in its efforts to support Manitobans facing food insecurity.
This year’s Empty Bowls Celebrity Auction and Dinner, a fundraising event being held on Oct. 16 at the RBC Convention Centre, features hand-painted bowls autographed by celebrities —including sports heroes, Hollywood icons … and Dolly Parton.
The country music legend signed and hand-decorated a bowl for the event, in recognition of Harvest’s 40th anniversary. Among the high-profile contributors, including William Shatner, the Beach Boys, Teemu Selanne and Katy Perry, Parton’s bowl stands out.
“Dolly Parton is a big supporter of so many charities all over the world, and a big advocate for folks living in poverty,” Harvest CEO Vince Barletta told 680 CJOB’s The Start.
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“She had a hardscrabble life, of course, and remembers that, and thinks of others that go through the same.”
Barletta said a bowl was sent to Parton for her signature, but it arrived broken, so a second bowl was sent out, but had a bit of a circuitous route in getting back to Winnipeg.
“The second bowl got out to Dolly, it ended up getting left somewhere … on the roof of a car. It was turned in by a good Samaritan, and it went back to Dolly.
“She ended up decorating this bowl beautifully … with feathers, sequins — from actually one of her stage costumes.
“She spent a lot of time decorating it, you can absolutely tell that … it’s a picture of Dolly, really, when you think about her stage presence and her persona.”
As much fun as the celebrity aspect of the event is, Barletta said, the goal is a serious one.
Harvest’s programs impact 100,000 Manitobans each month, and the organization needs support from the community to continue its important work.
“We’re hoping to raise a lot of money for Harvest, because, unfortunately, the need gets bigger and bigger.”
If you can’t attend the event, you can still support the cause by bidding on a celebrity bowl and other items online between now and Oct. 18.
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