While most expected a great turnout for the first-ever Scooped event in downtown Winchester Saturday, the shock could be felt throughout North Main Street when organizers realized just how impressively successful the event was.

More than 300 hand-crafted ice cream bowls sold out in less than an hour. Organizers estimated it took just 48 minutes for approximately 325 bowls to sell. Those bowls were purchased for $12 by dozens who were lined up at the noon start of the event. Each bowl was filled with a scoop of ice cream.

All proceeds from Scooped will benefit Clark County Homeless Coalition. To add the proverbial cherry on top of this ice cream sundae, the funds raised will be used to start substance abuse counseling programs for the residents at Wainscott Hall and clients of the CCHC.

This event was a grassroots effort in its truest form. It built community, offered an event for residents to attend, brought together various non-profits and will help fund much-needed services in our community.

The concept was born from the Empty Bowls event that occurs annually in the fall. Hundreds of bowls are crafted for that event each year and are filled with homemade soup. Funds support hunger relief programs, namely the food bank at Clark County Community Services.

Carvel and Ashley Norman, owners of Dirty South Pottery, have volunteered their efforts for Empty Bowls for years. Using that motivation, the pair teamed up with Michael Anderson, The Greater Clark Foundation and the local Art Guild. Carvel, Ashley and about 10 other local artists made the hundreds of bowls.

Carvel told The Sun previously the idea came after participating in The GCF’s Winchester Public Innovators Lab.

The event was a huge success and serve as a learning point for others who want to make a difference in the community.

Those who helped facilitate this event saw a need and developed a plan to address it. Simple as that. It’s something anyone could do.

We understand a lot of planning goes into developing events and programs that can benefit the community, but when like-minded individuals get together with a mission, anything is truly possible. Scooped proved that.

To have such huge success in the first year of an event is something to be commended.

We look forward to seeing how Scooped grows in the future.