Bowls for Hope, a growing tradition

By Serena Lapointe
Since 2016, Whitecourt Potter’s Guild members have lovingly taken on a
fundraiser that has grown in popularity while beautifying cupboards and
dining room tables in homes throughout the community. The Chili Bowl
Fundraiser is one of those blink-and-you-miss-out events because, without
fail, the bowls sell out every year, and the chili pot is licked clean.
Janice Janzen has been a member of the Potter’s Guild since 2013 and
has been volunteering at Tennille’s Hope since 2014. When the guild
decided to fundraise for the soup kitchen, Janzen’s connection to it as a
volunteer put her in the lead spot to get things going.
She brought the idea to Wanda Belbin, manager at Tennille’s. “I told her
about the crazy idea our guild had about making chili bowls as a fundraiser
and selling them, and she was like, that’s a great idea!” Janzen said the
group immediately started figuring out the logistics and getting bowls into
the kiln.
“We had twelve members in the guild, and we made 67 bowls that year. We
thought we were rock stars because we sold them all,” she laughed. “The
next year, we got a few more members and sold a few more bowls, and
each year it just got bigger and bigger, with more members and more
bowls.”
At only $25 a bowl, residents get a steal of a deal, receiving a one-of-a-kind
locally made piece of art and a bowl of piping hot homemade chili. In year
one, the fundraiser made $1,340. In 2017, they sold 113 bowls, making
$2,260. They upped the available bowls again in 2018, selling 135 and
making $2,700.
The number of bowls available corresponds with how many bowls guild
members can make by a week or two away from the event, counting in
every last-second bowl possible. Without fail, the event always sells out,
something that continues to surprise the members. The guild has 40

members now, which is the limit for their space. “We are very proud of what

we do and of the group we are getting to give to. Everybody feels really
good when it’s done,” said Janzen.
She said it’s an honour to know that community members want their bowls,
adding that they’ve never had a complaint. “We let new potters know that
people will be excited about their bowls no matter what they make. They
know they’ve made the bowl, and that’s what matters most,” explained
Janzen. “It shocks me every year when we put the advertisement on
Facebook. This year, on the first day, I think we sold 150 bowls. It’s
amazing. The support we get from the community is amazing.”
Aside from 2021, when they couldn’t run the event, 2020 was the only year
bowl sales dipped slightly due to COVID. Other than that, sales have
increased every single year. Thanks to new members joining the guild,
there were more hands to create bowls, growing availability by leaps and
bounds.
Each piece is a labour of love, taking nearly two weeks from start to finish.
From forming the bowl to trimming and drying it, firing it in the kiln and
glazing it, making a work of art takes time, and each guild member is asked
to provide bowls as part of their membership.
Earlier this month, the group sold 288 bowls, raising $7,385 for Tennille’s
Hope Soup Kitchen, more than four times the bowls made and more than
five times the dollars raised from year one. Even fourteen people on the
waiting list snagged bowls, thanks to some last-minute creations that were
ready in time.
Since 2016, the guild has raised $36,228 for Tennille’s Hope. These dollars
have been a huge help to the soup kitchen, enabling them to do things that
their yearly budget would never allow. Janzen said they’ve gotten knives,
stainless-steel counters, and chair covers and are buying new tables.
“When someone needs something, we always have gift cards on hand that

are either donated to us or that we buy,” she added.
“One hundred percent of the money made goes to the soup kitchen. The
potters donate the clay, their time, and their special glazes. We even

recycle some of our clay with the trimmings from other projects to make
bowls,” explained Janzen.
Throughout the fall and winter, members attend classes on Thursdays and
Saturdays to learn how to make, shape and glaze their bowls. “Two
members of the guild volunteer to run those classes. Some of our bowls
are square, some are oval, and some have different techniques and
designs. Those workshops have caught on the last two years, and that’s
why we have been able to make so many bowls.”
This year, at pick-up, Janzen asked some repeat buyers what they do with
all the bows they’ve collected. “This one lady said she doesn’t have any
other soup bowls in her cupboards, just our chili bowls. Another lady told
me that she gives them away as gifts.”
She said one lady buys five bowls each year, one each for herself, her
husband and their three children. “She said they are putting bowls away for
each of the kids, like a hope chest, for when they go away to college,” said
Janzen.
Every chili day, she looks forward to texts from friends letting her know they
got one of her bowls or showing her which one they got. “When you go to
their house and see a bowl, you’re like, oh my gosh, I think that’s a chili
bowl! I always lift the bowl to see whose it is.”
One of the best aspects of the day grew out of necessity and has now
added a game-like element to the fundraiser that buyers love. “Year one,
we had the bowls all lined up, and we would put them in the bag as
customers watched us, and they would ask for a different one, and it took
way too long.”
The group decided to make it a surprise, putting the bowls inside brown

paper bags. The bags worked, but one extra tweak to the process made
things even better, staples. “When they would deliver to bigger groups, like
a workplace, the people who ordered it were the first to see the bowls if the
bags were open, and they would pick their favourite. I heard that people
didn’t like that,” laughed Janzen. “So, now we staple the bags so people

can’t look at them, and they have to pick a bag, with no peeking allowed,”
she chuckled.
Janzen said the guild is grateful for the community’s support of Tennille’s
Hope and their artistic creations, thanking everyone for making the
fundraiser a big success. “See you next year!”