Empty Bowls Holds Its Final Dinner on October 14

The Empty Bowls Dinner and Silent Auction, which raises money for Tri-Lakes Cares, runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Lewis-Palmer High School. The Monument Hill Kiwanis Club, which puts on the dinner, says it will be the last.

The Monument Hill Kiwanis Club, a service club with more than 100 volunteers, bills the evening on its flyer as the “LAST EVER MHKC Empty Bowls Dinner.” A notice the club posted on Sept. 13 says it “will close the 20-year Monument tradition and announce other events at a future date.” Tri-Lakes Cares, the Monument nonprofit that runs a no-cost food market for northern El Paso County, told readers of its October newsletter that the event “returns for one final evening.” None of the three says why.

The club’s website describes how the work is divided: Kiwanis plans and runs the dinner, and Tri-Lakes Cares plans and runs the auction. In a typical year, by the club’s account, local artists and schools make and donate more than 800 bowls, more than 25 restaurants donate soup, and Lewis-Palmer School District 38 elementary students decorate the paper bags the bowls go home in. The club says its volunteers put in about 1,000 hours and that the night raises more than $20,000, all of it for Tri-Lakes Cares.

What a ticket buys

A ticket buys a dinner of soup, bread, a drink and dessert, donated by local restaurants and merchants, and a handmade bowl from a local artist to take home. Tickets are $25 in advance through the club’s online form and $30 at the door. Children under 12 get in free with a ticketed adult; the flyer puts the limit at one child per ticket. Guests are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the Tri-Lakes Cares pantry.

The dinner is at Lewis-Palmer High School, 1300 Higby Road. Tri-Lakes Cares’ event listing says school groups will play live music. The flyer names the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club, the Kiwanis youth service clubs and District 38 schools as presenters alongside the two organizers.

Who is donating the food and drink

This year’s flyer thanks 23 food and drink providers. In alphabetical order, they are Bennies, The Bistro on 2nd, Black Forest Foods, Calvert’s Mini Market, Coffee Cup Cafe, Colorado Mountain Brewery, Columbine Gardens, The Country Club at Woodmoor, Fuji Mt Hibachi & Sushi, Jackson Creek Senior Living, Jarrito Loco, Jasmine Garden, Joe Mama’s House, La Casa Fiesta, Local Landing, MyHouse Cafe, O’Malley’s Steak Pub, P.F. Chang’s, Serranos Coffee Company, Tao’s Oriental Cuisine, Taste of Life, Tequila Village and Texas Roadhouse.

The auction

Bidding in the silent auction opened online on Oct. 1 and runs through the dinner, which the auction page lists as its finale. Bidders register on that page. Tri-Lakes Cares says there that businesses and residents donated a record number of items this year. Its newsletter picks out three: a seven-night summer stay in Keystone, with two bedrooms and room for eight; a hand-quilted quilt signed by its maker; and a wine-and-cheese set built around a 14-inch charcuterie board.

Sources & further reading

Event record: Monument Hill Kiwanis Club, “Empty Bowls 2026,” Sept. 13, 2026 · the event flyer, carrying the date, prices, presenters and food and drink providers · the club’s ticket form · Tri-Lakes Cares’ event listing · the silent auction page · Tri-Lakes Cares’ October 2026 email newsletter, sent Oct. 1

Background: Monument Hill Kiwanis Club, fundraising projects, for the bowl, restaurant, volunteer-hour and proceeds figures · About Tri-Lakes Cares

Entities: Monument Hill Kiwanis Club · Tri-Lakes Cares · Lewis-Palmer High School · Lewis-Palmer School District 38 · Tri-Lakes Women’s Club