Empty Bowls Help Fill Empty Food Bank Cupboards

West Middle School students and staff have been busy creating unique clay bowls for their upcoming Empty Bowls Family Dinner.

More than 300 bowls are fashioned for the Thursday dinner — each one different from the next.

The 5th annual event brings family and friends together to share a simple meal of homemade soup and bread.  The soup is donated by West families and staff, and the bread is given by local businesses.  

A donation of $10 buys one handmade bowl to take home as a reminder of those who go without regular meals.  A family can eat for $25 and take home 2 bowls.

The money raised will support local food banks. The school raised more than $3,000 last year.

"It is a wonderful opportunity for students to help others while using their talents." said event organizer and art teacher Rebecca Bolinger.

Bolinger is supported by many staff and parent volunteers to do everything from collect donations and set up tables to serve soup and wash the 45 crock pots that come in throughout the day.

The Empty Bowls Project was started in the fall of 1990 by John Hartom, a ceramics teacher at Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills.  His school district was short on money for the area food drive so he and his wife offered to make bowls to serve a luncheon to the entire Lahser staff.  A donation basket was set up on the table and those in attendance were moved when they were asked to take home the bowls as a keepsake.

The lunch was such a success that by the summer of 1991 the project went public. Since then, events have taken place across the United States and Canada and at least 15 other countries.  

"Tens of millions of dollars have been raised and donated to organizations fighting hunger," Hartom says.

More information about the Empty Bowls Project can be found online.