It is once again time to fill the empty bowls and feed the hungry. This Thursday, March 27, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wittenberg will host its 31st annual Empty Bowls fundraising event in the University’s Center Dining Room inside the Benham-Pence Student Center.
Aimed at combating food insecurity at the local level, Empty Bowls events are hosted across the country each year. In the 30 years Wittenberg has hosted this highly popular event, more than $665,000 has been raised, which equates to nearly 3.8 million meals for those in need in Clark, Champaign, and Logan counties.
In collaboration with the Second Harvest Food Bank, Wittenberg ceramic students, staff, faculty, Springfield High School’s Art Department, and community members throw, glaze, and fire approximately 1,000 bowls, 90 percent of which are made on Empty Bowls Throwing Days, which take place on Saturday/Sunday afternoons.
The Second Harvest Food Bank lines up sponsors to donate soup and bread for the event. Sponsors include Parkhurst Dining Services and several area restaurants. Then, on the night of the event, patrons choose a bowl to purchase at a cost of $20 each and enjoy an all-you-can-eat soup dinner with fellow community members. Patrons then take the bowl home with them as a reminder of the many people who are hungry throughout the community.
Proceeds from the event benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank to help address food insecurity in Springfield and Clark County. The event raised more than $40,000 in 2024 and had a record high of $50,187 in 2019. This year’s goal is to raise over $50,000.
Sarah Baker, class of 2019 from Springfield, Ohio, designed this year’s event T-shirts, which will be available for purchase.
Every dollar raised provides five meals to hungry families in the community. The purchase of one bowl will provide 100 meals.
As the only food bank in Clark, Champaign and Logan Counties, Second Harvest distributes more than six million pounds of food annually, with more than four million pounds going directly to Clark County. Second Harvest Food Bank’s daily operation consists of sourcing and gathering food, sorting and cataloging the food, and then warehousing the inventory to be distributed to agency members throughout a three-county service area.
Second Harvest Food Bank is a member of Feeding America and the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, and is responsible for the safe handling of all food products adhering to state and federal guidelines, including providing member oversight to pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters.
For additional information or to become a sponsor of this year’s Empty Bowls event, please contact either Dooley at sdooley@wittenberg.edu or Allie Godfrey, marketing and events associate, Second Harvest Food Bank, at (937) 325-8715 ext. 102 or agodfrey@theshfb.org.
