The flyer for this year's Empty Bowls dinner calls it the "LAST EVER MHKC Empty Bowls Dinner." On Sept. 13 the Monument Hill Kiwanis Club posted a notice saying the evening "will close the 20-year Monument tradition and announce other events at a future date," according to The Monument Independent. Tri-Lakes Cares told its newsletter readers the dinner "returns for one final evening." The Independent notes that none of the three sources says why it is ending.
That makes Oct. 14 a good time to look at how the fall calendar around Woodmoor actually works. The soup dinner, the half-K around Palmer Lake, the holiday home tour and the robotics day each send their money somewhere specific. Several also send it to each other. When one event leaves, it takes a link out of that chain.
What the Last Dinner Buys
The dinner runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Lewis-Palmer High School, 1300 Higby Road. Tickets are $25 in advance through the Kiwanis ticket form and $30 at the door. Each purchased ticket also admits one child under 12 for free. A ticket covers soup, bread, a drink, dessert and a handmade bowl from a local artist to take home. Guests are asked to bring a nonperishable food item for the Tri-Lakes Cares pantry.
This year's flyer thanks 23 food and drink providers. The list reads like a map of local dining. It includes The Country Club at Woodmoor, O'Malley's Steak Pub, The Bistro on 2nd, Serranos Coffee Company, Coffee Cup Cafe, Black Forest Foods, Jarrito Loco, Local Landing, MyHouse Cafe, Columbine Gardens and Colorado Mountain Brewery, along with a dozen others.
The Monument Hill Kiwanis fundraising page describes a typical year this way. Local artists and schools donate more than 800 bowls, more than 25 restaurants donate soup, volunteers put in about 1,000 hours, and the night raises more than $20,000, all of it for Tri-Lakes Cares. That is the club's standing estimate, not a confirmed result for any single year. In 2025, the Gazette reported 401 tickets sold but gave no dollar total. Even the event's age is uncertain. Kiwanis calls it a 20-year tradition, while a 2022 Gazette piece described that year's dinner as the 30th annual fundraiser.
The work is split between two organizations. Kiwanis runs the dinner, and Tri-Lakes Cares runs the silent auction. Bidding opened online Oct. 1 on the auction page and closes at the dinner. Tri-Lakes Cares says businesses and residents donated a record number of items this year, including a seven-night summer stay in Keystone and a hand-quilted, signed quilt.
Where The Money Goes Next
Tri-Lakes Cares runs a no-cost food market for northern El Paso County, and it receives every dollar from Empty Bowls. It also appears on another group's donor list. The Tri-Lakes Women's Club's 2026 grant recommendations include a water fountain for Tri-Lakes Cares clients and staff. The same club is named on the Empty Bowls flyer as a presenter, alongside Kiwanis youth service clubs and District 38 schools.
The club's grant list keeps pointing back to groups on this fall's calendar. Monumental Impact, which runs the November robotics day, is recommended for robotics project materials. Encore Community Arts, which stages Disney's 101 Dalmatians Kids at Trinity Lutheran Church on Nov. 7, is recommended for theater equipment.
| Event | Date | Organizer | Where proceeds go |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty Bowls Dinner | Wed., Oct. 14 | Monument Hill Kiwanis | Tri-Lakes Cares |
| Palmer Lake .5K | Sun., Oct. 18 | Awake Palmer Lake | Town parks, trails and the lake |
| Joys of the Holiday Season Home Tour | Fri.–Sat., Nov. 20–21 | Tri-Lakes Women's Club | Club grants program |
| MITEE Gobble Squabble | Sat., Nov. 21 | Monumental Impact | Lower competitor costs, volunteer meals, free exhibitor tables |
The Barn Is Where Most Of It Starts
Many of these threads pass through one building, the Woodmoor Community Center at 1691 Woodmoor Drive, which most people call the Barn. The October calendar from Our Community News lists three gatherings there within eight days.
- Wed., Oct. 21, 5 p.m. 100+ Women Who Care holds a membership social. Members each give $100 twice a year to Tri-Lakes charities, with a goal of up to $20,000 a year.
- Sun., Oct. 25, 2–6 p.m. Bookies & Cookies brings local authors and small business owners selling books, baked goods, antiques and clay earrings. There are free raffles and a small scavenger hunt.
- Wed., Oct. 28, 7 p.m. The Woodmoor Improvement Association holds its regular board meeting.
In November the Barn becomes the starting point for the Tri-Lakes Women's Club's sixth annual Holiday Home Tour. Every ticket holder starts at the Hospitality House inside the Barn, which is open 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20, and Saturday, Nov. 21. That is where guests pick up a physical ticket and a guidebook with each home's address and a QR code. Addresses are not published ahead of time. Tickets are $30, good on both days, and you can visit the five decorated homes in any order. Organizers say the tour is not recommended for children under 13. The Hospitality House also has a holiday gift shop, a gift basket raffle and free Starbucks coffee.
The club says 100% of its fundraising-event proceeds go to its grants program. It reports giving more than $1.25 million to the community since 1973. Its 2026 grant recommendations total $45,435.90 across 24 awards, with $25,552.17 going to nonprofits. The nonprofit grants are mostly small, specific purchases: solar panels for the equine barn at Bella Terra Farms, iPads for Pikes Peak Hospice volunteers, caregiver training workbooks for Silver Key Senior Services, and an accessible step from the playground to the pavilion at Trinity Community Park.
The Shortest Race Has The Clearest Results
The 12th annual Palmer Lake .5K covers half a kilometer, or 546 yards. It starts at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. Packet pickup is on the lake's northeast side, and the finish and after-party are near O'Malley's Steak Pub, 104 Highway 105. Registration comes with a donut at the halfway mark, a beer or root beer at the finish, and a dog treat for runners who qualify by species. Prizes go for best outfit, best costume and best attitude.
The Monument Independent lists adult entry at $43.40 through Oct. 17 and $48.70 on race day, with fees included. Children's entries are $22.20 and dogs' entries are $16.90. Day-of registration is available, but the deadline to get a T-shirt in your size passed on Oct. 8. Sign-up is on RunSignup.
Awake Palmer Lake, formally the Palmer Lake Restoration Project, was founded in 1995. It says all race proceeds go to its work on the town's parks, trails and lake. Its website credits it with the public restroom on the lake's west side, finished in 2023, and the pickleball courts that opened there in 2024. Those are both things you can see on a walk around the lake, which makes this one of the easiest fundraisers in the Tri-Lakes area to trace from entry fee to finished project.
November 21 Doubles Up
The second day of the home tour falls on the same Saturday as Monumental Impact's sixth annual MITEE Gobble Squabble. It runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bear Creek Elementary, 1330 Creekside Drive. Admission is free for spectators. The schedule includes combat robotics, a FIRST Tech Challenge scrimmage, an Open Robotics Competition and a Makers & Community Expo, with food trucks planned. According to the event page, donations and sponsorships keep competitor costs low, feed the volunteers, and let makers and community groups exhibit without paying a table fee. If you want a look at the makerspace before then, Monumental Impact offers free orientations at 866 Highway 105 in Palmer Lake on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. and Dec. 5 at 10 a.m.
You could do both in one day. Pick up a tour guide at the Barn when the Hospitality House opens at 9:30 a.m., visit a few of the homes, and stop by the robotics expo in the afternoon. Because tickets are good on both days, you can also see the rest of the homes on Friday.
The Gap After October 14
Kiwanis has said it will announce other events at a future date but has not said what they will be. Until it does, Tri-Lakes Cares loses a fundraiser that, by the club's own estimate, brings in more than $20,000 in a typical year. It keeps its smaller grants from groups like the Women's Club. The 23 restaurants on this year's flyer lose an evening that put their food on one table, and the artists who make the bowls lose their October deadline.
Our Community News warns that event dates and times often change after publication, so check with each organizer before you go. The dinner itself is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday at Lewis-Palmer High School. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and Tri-Lakes Cares asks guests to bring a can of food for the pantry.
At Eric Scott, we follow Woodmoor through calendars like this one, because a list of who funds what shows how a neighborhood looks after itself. If you would like to talk about life near the Barn or anywhere along the Woodmoor stretch of Highway 105, please book a private consultation.
