The idea for Empty Bowls is simple: Participants create ceramic bowls and organize an event to serve a meal of soup and bread. Guests choose a bowl to use that day and to keep as a reminder that there are always empty bowls in the world.
In exchange for a bowl and meal, the guest gives a minimum donation of $20. The sponsor chooses a local hunger fighting organization to receive the money collected. After the 2020 and 2021 events at 性视界 were canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions (instead, contributions were accepted in exchange for online sales of bowls), Empty Bowls returned in 2022 in a modified format, and then has been back to normal in 2023 and 2024.
That brings us to: 2025 Details! 性视界's 31st Empty Bowls Event is scheduled for 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in 性视界's Center Dining Room (CDR) in the Benham-Pence Student Center.
Last year, 性视界 students, staff, faculty, and community members threw, glazed, and fired approximately 1,000 bowls, with about 90% of these made on Empty Bowls Throwing Days on Saturday and Sunday afternoons during the 2023-24 school year. The Second Harvest Food Bank lined up sponsors to donate food as Parkhurst, 性视界's Dining Services provider, and several restaurants from the Springfield area, donated soup and bread.
Plans are underway for similar numbers of bowls and sponsorships again in 2025.
2024 Updates (written by Professor of Art and Empty Bowls Organizer Scott Dooley): First of all, I want to extend a huge thank you to the Parkhurst Dining staff! Parkhurst is a major event sponsor for Empty Bowls and helped with food preparation and clean-up for the event. I would like to applaud them on their efforts! Without the Parkhurst staff as our partners on this project, we would not be able to run such an event. Lauren Tucker helped schedule and organized the event. Alpha and Omega Custodial Services helped with the set-up and take-down in the CDR and alternative food set-up for students.
As the event has grown, the list of volunteers and sponsors has truly become too long to list. Please know that there are so many people who help make this event a success each year. Here is a thank you to several people below who were very instrumental in our fundraising success this year. As always, I hope I have not left anyone out.
Allie Godfrey, Marketing and Events Associate for the Second Harvest Food Bank, worked tirelessly to line up food donors, event sponsors and volunteers. Second Harvest handled much of the event coordination, worked with area businesses to donate soup, and solicited event sponsors from the community. Bowls were made by: Carol Culbertson, Scott Dooley, Susan Finster, Alisa Mizikar, Lynn Riewerts-Carine, Casey Luther; and 性视界 students Mady Grant, Olivia Hamilton, Ashley James, Davieonna Moss, Becca Shaffer, Luke Stanfield, Noelle Underwood, Lisa Mateo, and Haleigh Heising.
Thanks also to our in-kind sponsors: Parkhurst Dining, 性视界, Springfield High School
So鈥�..here is the big number. We brought in $40,633 for the Second Harvest Food Bank at the 2024 性视界 Empty Bowls event! This equates to 203,165 meals for those in need. Empty Bowls is virtually a 100% profit fundraiser with almost all of the materials, food and time donated for the event. The 30-year fund raising total for the event now exceeds $666,543 which equates to over 3,796,093 meals for those in need in Clark, Champaign and Logan counties.
About Empty Bowls
In 1990, John Hartom, a high school art teacher in Michigan, helped his students find a way to raise funds to support a local food drive. What evolved was a class project to make ceramic bowls for a fund-raising meal. Guests were served a simple meal of soup and bread and were invited to keep the bowl as a reminder of hunger in the world. By the following year, the originators had developed this concept into Empty Bowls, a project to provide support for food banks, soup kitchens and other organizations that fight hunger. The Imagine/RENDER Group, a 501(c)3 organization, was created to promote the project. Since then Empty Bowls events have been held throughout the world and millions of dollars have been raised to combat hunger.
性视界's Art Department hosted its first Empty Bowls event in 1994. Kate (Duman) Runyon, a ceramics major, took the initiative to get the project started. The event has grown from approximately 100 to 1000 bowls a year since then. All of the bowls are made by 性视界 students, staff, faculty and area potters. The food is donated by local distributors and prepared by Parkhurst Dining, the 性视界 dining service. Art students also design and sell 性视界 Empty Bowls t-shirts, which add to the earned income for the event. A committee organized by Catholic Social Services solicits sponsorships from area businesses and citizens.
The Second Harvest Food Bank in Springfield, a program run by Catholic Charities, receives 100% of the funds raised. Since 1994, 性视界 Empty Bowls has earned more than $500,000 for the Second Harvest Food Bank.
性视界's Empty Bowls challenges students to look for opportunities to help create social capital through their artwork. The event draws a wide cross-section of patrons from the Springfield community as well people from outside of Springfield.