MARCH 19, 2009 ISSUE
Fill More Bowls Than Your Own at WHS’s Empty Bowls Fundraiser March 28
WHS alum Brent Lawrence throws a bowl on the crafts studio pottery wheel to donate to the Empty Bowls fundraiser dinner. Photo by Kristen StreetAt Watauga High School, clay is being kneaded, coiled, pinched and thrown—on a pottery wheel, of course—in order to make all the bowls they need for this year’s Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Hunger and Health Coalition.
This year marks the eighth time students from WHS have participated in this national event. This year’s Empty Bowls dinner will take place on Saturday, March 28, in the WHS cafeteria from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. There will be a suggested minimum donation of $15, which includes soup, entertainment, a silent auction and a handmade bowl to keep. All proceeds will benefit the Hunger and Health Coalition.
The Empty Bowls project began in 1990, when an art teacher from Michigan named John Hartom wanted his students to participate in a food drive by contributing their own ceramic bowls to a soup lunch fundraiser. After the meal, Hartom invited the guests to keep the bowls they had eaten out of as a reminder of their own full bellies while many other members of the community still had empty bowls. The impact of this moment was not lost on the guests, and by the next year the cause had begun to spread. Now Hartom’s nonprofit organization, Empty Bowls, is sponsored by schools, civic organizations and individuals in almost every state, with proceeds going to local hunger awareness agencies.
“The Empty Bowls fundraiser connects students with their community by creating an awareness in them that there is a hunger issue where they live,” said Whit Whitaker, WHS crafts teacher. “People have to make choices about the food they eat, and when it comes down to what’s in the bank, there isn’t always enough to be able to make the choices you want. Empty Bowls shows the students this, and gives them the opportunity to help alleviate a bit of the problem in their own community.”
On March 28, guests will select a bowl from an array of ceramic art created by WHS students—predominantly from WHS art classes taught by Susan Dunn, Lori Hill, Shelton Wilder and Whit Whitaker—as well as the elementary art students of Dacia Trethewey and Jill Huffman, Lucy Hamilton and Maggie Black’s students in the Crafts Enrichment classes at ASU, former WHS students and other various professional community potters. Also contributing art and time are art students from Pat Morrison’s classes at Ashe County High School. Last year the event raised $6,100 for the Hunger and Health Coalition.
Several local restaurants will donate the fare. Stick Boy Bread Company will provide bread, Casa Rustica Restaurant will provide Italian Minestrone Soup and Pepper’s Restaurant will provide Potato Soup. Melanie’s Food Fantasy will provide Southwest Black Bean Soup, Woodlands Barbecue will bring Brunswick Stew and Troy’s 105 Diner will contribute Troy’s Traditional Chili. Blimpies Subs & Salads Restaurant will donate some of Rick’s Homemade Soup, Glidewell’s Restaurant will provide Roasted Pepper & Tomato Basil and the Friends of Watauga will be bringing desserts.
A few of the bowls made by WHS students that will be available to use and keep at the Empty Bowls event on Saturday, March 28. Photo by Kristen Street
Live musical performances will be provided from the WHS jazz, orchestra and chorus students, as well as selections from the theater department’s upcoming musical. More than 40 professional community artists and craftspeople have donated pieces for the silent auction that will take place during the event as well.
The fundraiser is organized and run by WHS art students.
“Empty Bowls allows students to use their creativity to help others. They’ll be rewarded for their creative efforts by knowing they have helped their community,” said WHS art teacher Shelton Wilder. “It makes us think of family as bigger than who you’re related to. In the family of Man, all people are important.”
Rising food and fuel prices have pushed even more families toward the poverty line, and the Hunger and Health Coalition is in need of assistance to meet the needs of our community members who may be less fortunate than others. The Hunger and Health Coalition meet the immediate needs of those facing economic hardship and food shortages, while acting as a community resource assisting those in need to find a more permanent solution.
Last year a woman was so moved by the event that she sent the art department a letter, reading, “I picked out my bowl and went through the line, choosing the black bean soup. I looked for bread to go with it, but there was none left...I found the soup to be spicy to my taste and I had no bread to take away some of the heat. The woman sitting across the table from me offered me the remainder of her bread, and I accepted. So I ate the rest of the spicy soup wishing for more bread. [My husband] pointed out that there were plenty of cakes and cookies-which I did not want...and for a moment I felt sorry for myself. Then it hit me. I was instantly reminded of what a food snob I am... I never eat what I don’t like, and can choose what I eat and have as much as I want. I felt vaguely ashamed and grateful for what I have all at the same time. Thank you for this experience.”
Want To Go?
Date: Saturday March 28
Time: 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Location: Watauga High School cafeteria
Cost: $15 minimum donation
The Power of $100
One hundred dollars may seem like a small amount of money to some and a large amount to others, but in the hands of the Hunger and Health coalition, $100 can go a long way.
- A donation of $100 will provide 12 boxes—480 pounds—of food.
- A donation of $100 will provide food for 30 people.
- A donation of $100 will provide 77 prepared meals through the Food Recovery Program.
- For every $1 invested, $17 of medications can be provided.
- A donation of $100 can provide 13 preschoolers with weekend snacks for 10 months.
- A donation of $100 can provide 53 snack bags to preschool children.
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