T he Idaho Foodbank’s annual Empty Bowls event, held every year on the day after Thanksgiving on the Grove Plaza, is known for combining lots of good things at once. Hungry folks can show up, pay a fee, choose a cool bowl, get it filled with delicious soup made by local chefs and keep the bowl — all to benefit the Idaho Foodbank.

Before all that happens, the foodbank has to collect bowls. Lots of bowls. This year the goal is to get 2,500 bowls donated in time for the big event.

Ceramica is offering a special deal through Nov. 14. They’ll waive the studio fee for anyone who buys a bowl to paint for Empty Bowls and donates a non-perishable food item. Ceramica is open seven days a week at 1002 S. Vista Ave. in the Vista Village Shopping Center. Call 342-3822 for more. (Bowl prices begin at $9).

Event sponsorship and pre-sale opportunities are also available. For more information, contact Teena Wright, Foodbank Events Coordinator at teenawright@idahofoodbank.org.

The deadline to get your bowls to the Idaho Foodbank is Nov. 19. Drop them off 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 3562 S. TK Ave. in Boise.

FIRST TEE IDAHO MAKES GOLF ACCESSIBLE FOR KIDS

This nonprofit operates on the philosophy that learning the game of golf can help promote character and good habits in young people — and works to make the game affordable for them through community support and scholarships.

The program began in 2005. Since then, thousands of kids have participated, including 8,800 in the Boise, Meridian, Vallivue and Caldwell school districts through First Tee’s school outreach program.

The organization accepts donations of cash or gently used/name brand adult golf equipment. Volunteers sell them online, then use the money to buy junior-sized equipment for First Tee participants. Participants “rent” the equipment for a refundable deposit of $25. They keep the clubs for a year while they’re enrolled in the program. If they enroll the next year, they can use the clubs again or trade them up to a larger size. In 2012, First Tee loaned out over 100 sets of clubs to beginning golfers.

To donate cash or equipment or find out about volunteering, visit First Tee Idaho online, link at idahostatesman.com, or contact Pete Stickney, executive director, for more: 938-3411, pstickney@thefirstteeidaho.org.

EVENING OF JAZZ WILL BENEFIT SCHOLARSHIP FUND

The Idaho Jazz Society hosts an evening with pianist and singer Yve Evans, special guest Brent Jensen, 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 24 at the Riverside Hotel, 2900 W. Chinden Blvd. in Boise.

A review in The International Review of Music noted that Evans “Sings jazz, she sings blues, she sings gospel. And she accompanies herself with hard swinging piano backing. Evans is, in other words, the real deal.”

The concert is free, but donations are welcome. Proceeds go to the society’s scholarship fund for college students studying music and music education. For more information call Patrick Kurdy at 336-4447.

ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A DOG...

The library’s “read to a therapy dog” program kind of makes a person want to be a beginning reader once again.

Children can practice their reading aloud to a certified therapy dog at Boise Public Library’s Main Library in Downtown Boise.

Therapy dogs are scheduled the third and fourth Saturday of the month at 2 p.m. in the Hayes Auditorium. On Oct. 20, canine “reading buddies” will be a basset hound named Molly and a corgi mix named Shorty. On Oct. 27, Alex, a Polish lowland sheepdog, and Kaleb, a German shepherd, will be in the listening seat.

For more information, call 384-4200. The Main Library is at 715 S. Capitol Blvd.

NONPROFIT RESOURCE THURSDAYS

It’s time for another free training session from the Idaho Nonprofit Center. This month’s topic, managing the books, 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 18 at the Boise Public Library Main Branch. 424-2229.

ARE YOU A DESCENDENT OF A MERIDIAN PIONEER?

The Meridian Historical Society hosts meetings to gather information about early Meridian families (prior to 1940), 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., both on Oct. 23 in room 108A, Meridian City Hall, 33 E. Broadway. More info: History Center office, 489-0602, Lila Hill at 362-5220 or Robbie Robinson at 288-2448.

Anna Webb: 377-6431