SWEETWATER COUNTY — Over 600 people attended this year’s YWCA “Bowls of Caring” event at the Sweetwater Events Complex in Rock Springs on March 22.

For $15, participants received a hand-crafted ceramic bowl and a meal of soup, salad, bread, dessert, and a soft drink. All the food was donated by businesses and individuals in Sweetwater County, volunteers did the cooking and serving, and the proceeds were donated to YWCA programs.

Bowls of Caring started out as “Bowls of Sharing” in 2004, in memory of an accomplished Rock Springs Potter named Kathy Crabtree, who passed away that year from complications due to Cushing’s Syndrome. In honor of her memory, friends and family created pottery bowls and hosted a soup dinner fundraiser and a regular event was born.

In 2014 the Bowls of Sharing committee handed management of the event to the YWCA. For legal and tax reasons, the event’s name was changed to “Bowls of Caring.”

This year’s event was sponsored by Mandros Painting of Green River and staffed by nearly 70 volunteers from organizations including Cowboy Cares, the Congressional Group, students from the Rock Springs High School Health and Energy Academies, Stagecoach Elementary School, Transformations Face Painting, Youth Home, Inc., and Southwest Counseling Service. Other volunteers included athletes from Western Wyoming Community College, family members of Mandros Painting staff, YWCA board members, Black Butte High School art students, Miss Red Desert 2018 Chelsea Price, Brett and Connie Stokes, and Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell.