SoDel chefs participate in 2018 Empty Bowls fundraiser

SoDel Concepts recently teamed up with the Rehoboth Beach Sunrise Rotary Club for the Third Annual Empty Bowls event, established to increase awareness about hunger and food insecurity, and to help local organizations fight hunger.

Held April 29 at The Clubhouse at Baywood in Millsboro, one of SoDel Concepts' 10 restaurants, the fundraiser featured 660 bowls made by Rehoboth Art League potters. Participants selected a bowl and filled it with gourmet soup. Tom Deptula, executive chef at The Clubhouse, prepared chicken noodle. Maurice Catlett, executive chef of Matt's Fish Camp in Lewes, made clam chowder, and Jen Bradour, a chef at Fish On and Plate Catering, made tomato bisque.

"Thanks to our sponsors, including SoDel Concepts, 100 percent of the donations go toward fighting hunger, which is closer than you might think," said Richard Miller, who coordinated the event with Sarah Dickinson, director of events at The Clubhouse at Baywood. "There are food banks all over Sussex County, and there are kids in schools going home on Fridays with backpacks of food because that's the only food they'll get for the weekend."

Miller praised the staff at The Clubhouse, which is one of the only venues in Sussex County large enough to accommodate the high turnout. To date, the event has raised almost $15,000.

"We enjoyed hosting Empty Bowls because we know that it raises both awareness and money to fight hunger in Sussex County," Dickinson said. "The bowls made by the Rehoboth Art League were amazing. They were a huge hit."

The Rehoboth Beach Sunrise Rotary Club's mission is to better the lives of the youth of the immediate communities of Rehoboth Beach, Lewes and Sussex County at large.

For more information, go to www.rehobothsunrise.rotary-clubs.org, www.sodelconcepts.com and www.baywoodclubhouse.com.