The 2017 Empty Bowl Project, held Saturday at Marshall County High School, brought together restaurants and businesses to serve some of their best dishes to support Marcella’s Kitchen, a community nonprofit devoted to serving meals to those in need. Proceeds from the annual fundraiser — about $12,000 from the 400 tickets sold and silent auction items as of Tuesday — went to the organization’s building fund, to renovate a newly purchased building in Benton. The building, formerly the Stilley Professional Building on the campus of the old Marshall County Hospital, will eventually house a commercial kitchen and dining area. Renovations are expected to take about a year.
Marcella’s Kitchen will continue to operate at the Draffenville Community Center in the meantime. Meals are served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.