This year’s Empty Bowls fundraiser, hosted by the Bay School Community Arts Center to support the work of Hands Across Mathews, was successful, with a record $26,485 raised for the charitable organization thus far, and more yet to come in.

Hands Across Mathews’ second vice president Maurine Frank, who organized the event, said that over 400 bowls were sold, bringing in $11,485 because many people donate more than the $20 charged for their tickets. There are still 50 bowls left, she said, and people are expected to buy those over time. On top of that, there was a whopping $15,000 donation from a single donor.

“I looked at it several times because I wasn’t sure what I was seeing,” said Frank.

Except for around $25 spent on incidentals such as butter and plastic flatware, every dime will go to help Hands Across Mathews provide food for the hungry, she said. It’s all possible because members of the Clay by the Bay Pottery Guild hand-made every single bowl, donating them all to the effort.

The Bay School was filled with people during the event itself, held on Sunday over a three-hour period at lunchtime. The bright, colorful soup bowls were spread out across several tables in the center of the pottery room, with ticket holders able to choose their own. Thirty-five soup-filled slow cookers were lined up on tables around the perimeter of the room, with volunteers continually ladling all kinds of soup into people’s bowls, from vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free choices to chili, lentils and beef, shrimp chowder, corn chowder, and more.

The adjacent room had a table piled high with breads and cookies that guests were once again able to select for themselves, including gluten-free choices. Beyond that, the bright, open Art Speaks Gallery was filled with people chatting happily with each other as they enjoyed their meals.

Frank said all of the food sold is donated by volunteers each year. “I put the word out, and people step up with whatever they like,” she said.

Although Hands Across Mathews helps people in a variety of ways, including with clothing and household goods, as available, the money that was raised is earmarked for food, said Frank. She said Hands buys food weekly at the Peninsula Food Bank, driving the organization’s truck onto a scale to weigh it, filling up with food, checking the weight once again, and paying 19 cents a pound for the difference.

In addition, Food Lion in Mathews “does a wonderful job” with donating food, said Frank, and Hands volunteers go by there two or three times a week to pick up a carload of good, edible day-old items and produce.

All of the people who receive food are vetted by Mathews Social Services to make sure that the most-needy residents get the staples they need, said Frank. First-time families who haven’t been vetted yet aren’t turned away, she said, but are told to go to Social Services afterward and get cleared for future assistance. She said Mathews has a lot of seniors who can afford to buy either their medicine or food.

“We tell them to buy their medications, and we’ll provide the food,” she said. “We try to be good stewards of the money that comes to us.”