Potter’s Bowl a success again

While everyone knows a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup is the best medicine for a nasty cold, one local non-profit group hopes to extend the versatility of the savory dish in order to help elderly residents.
The Good Shepherd Caregivers of Shepherdstown held their annual Potter’s Bowl on Friday, March 9. The event is one of the charity organization’s most important fundraisers for the year. Local restaurants provided over a dozen different kinds of soups for patrons of the event, with Panera Bread providing the bread.
More than 200 people attended this year’s Potter’s Bowl, each leaving with a special, handcrafted bowl made by potters from the area as well as some as far away as South Carolina. Over 300 bowls were acquired for the event according to one of the event organizers, Gary Tucker. Tucker said that one of the complaints they received last year was that the selection of bowls was a bit limited, so he wanted to make sure there was plenty to pick from this time around.
After everybody was sitting down with their hot bowl of soup, the Shepherdstown fire hall turned into an auction house as a live auction rounded out the evening. Auctioned pieces ranged from handcrafted wooden cutting boards, to Deep Creek getaways. Items sold at the auction for anywhere from $50 to hundreds of dollars. A silent auction was also held for some of the smaller items on hand.
At the event, GSC Executive Director Paula Marrone-Reese accepted an award from the West Virginia League of Women Voters.
“We get to help people, what is more rewarding?” Marrone-Resse said. Marrone-Reese went on to say that she believes GSC belongs to the community, as they are entirely funded by the contributions from the community.
Good Shepherd Caregivers provides services to the elderly and homebound in the Jefferson County area. Their services range from taking a care receiver to the doctors to doing household chores which are difficult for the care receiver to complete anymore. The group also recently started their “Fix-it” team initiative which provides minor home repairs and construction of accommodations like access ramps for clients.
Sharon Tucker, wife of Gary Tucker said that GSC was important to keeping the elderly in Shepherdstown and the surrounding areas.
“I believe my parents would have stayed with the help of Good Shepherd.” Tucker recounted, explaining that her parents had left the area to be closer to care about a year before GSC started. Tucker was one of nearly 20 volunteers working the event.
Upcoming GSC events include the Caregivers’ Golf Classic on May 4, where Miss WV, Spencer Wempe will be in attendance. In August, GSC will be hosting its second annual Rubber Ducky Classic; rubber duck race, to fund the Fix-it team.