The 11th annual Empty Bowls, a fundraiser that benefits the Huntington Area Food Bank, is set for Friday, April 11, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church at 1015 5th Ave., Huntington.
Marshall University ceramics students have made almost 1,200 bowls for Empty Bowls 2014, according to Frederick Bartolovic, Marshall’s ceramics faculty member. Additionally, area potters will provide an estimated 300 bowls.
For $15, guests of the event will have the opportunity to receive a handmade ceramic bowl and a modest soup lunch meant to serve as a reminder of those in our area who go hungry. In addition, guests may purchase up to 7 additional bowls as available. All proceeds from the event will go to the food bank.
Several hundred bowls will be released at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. to try to ensure that everyone will have the opportunity to get one. Bowls at events past have sold out in as little as 75 minutes.
Erin Highlander, director of development for the food bank, said she has high expectations for this year’s event.
“We can provide more than 100 meals for each bowl sold this year,” Highlander said. “That means a lot to the 113,500 food-insecure individuals in our community.”
B’nai Sholom Congregation, Christian Associates and Marshall University ceramic students work together to host the event. The cooperative effort is designed to raise awareness of the hunger issue in the Tri-State region.
The Huntington Area Food Bank is a non-profit organization that serves as the hub in a network of food donors and 200 organizations that serve hungry people in 17 counties in western West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. HAFB provides goods to food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, senior citizen programs, veterans’ programs and residential programs that directly serve the needs of hungry people.
For more information about Empty Bowls, visit www.marshall.edu/emptybowls or e-mail Beth Caruthers at beth.caruthers@marshall.edu.
