‘Empty Bowls’ helps to fill stomachs
Bowls created by Marshall students and volunteers were available for purchase at the annual Empty Bowls event to raise funds for Facing Hunger Foodbank.
Empty Bowls teamed up with Facing Hunger Foodbank and Marshall University Friday to have the 14th Annual Empty Bowls event at the First Presbyterian Church in Huntington.
Empty Bowls is a fundraiser for Facing Hunger Foodbank, a nonprofit organization that provides purchased and donated food to 17 counties in the tri-state region.
During the Empty Bowls event, consumers were able to buy a handcrafted ceramic bowl to go with a meal of soup, bread and a drink. The cost is $15, but that $15 goes on to feed 112 people in Huntington and the surrounding communities.
Suzanne Brady, director of development and communications for Facing Hunger Foodbank, said this event and the Italian Festival are their biggest fundraisers for the year.
Chad Andrew Floyd, a senior design student from Marshall, took the ceramics class that helped make bowls for the event. Every student taking the ceramics class had to make 25 bowls as a requirement. They were also required to help with the community open-studio day.
“We had about 1,400 bowls today and now we only have about 200 left,” Floyd said.
Dean Donald Van Horn of the College of Arts and Media said there is value in the event for university students in the community.
“The important thing is to help our students understand the importance of giving back to the community and being apart of the community,” Van Horn said. “This is really all about building into our students a sense of citizenship.”
Jessica Ashworth, an art and design student at Marshall and a member of the Keramos Clay Club, volunteered for the Facing Hunger Foodbank this semester and for the Empty Bowls event.
“(In class) we actually got to volunteer at the Huntington Foodbank and it totally opened my eyes to how much they contribute to Huntington and to West Virginia in general,” Ashworth said. “Being a Marshall student, that just adds onto how much Marshall and all of helping the community. We are more than just a school, we are apart of Huntington and the community.”
In total, Empty Bowls raised $14,300 for the Facing Hunger Foodbank, which then will provide 107,250 meals for people in the tri-state area.
Sadie Helmick can be contacted at [email protected].
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