With an abundance of ceramic bowls awaiting new owners, organizers of the 26th annual Empty Bowls fundraiser have decided to take the event virtual this year with a special online opportunity now through Oct. 1.
In conjunction with Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) of Champaign, Clark, and Logan Counties, bowls will be available for purchase this year. With even more mouths to feed due to the COVID pandemic, every dollar counts toward helping the area’s hungry. Anyone can purchase individual bowls for $15, and sets of four bowls are available for $55. Additionally, raffle tickets, $10 mugs, and numerous other pottery pieces will be up for sale on the SHFB website. Donations to the cause can also be accepted on the site.
To participate, please order on the website. SHFB will then box up the items and purchases can be picked up at designated times listed on the site or be shipped directly. The Empty Bowls Shop will be open on the SHFB website for one week with a mission to “fill your cart, to fill an empty bowl.”
Since the start of the pandemic in March, Second Harvest has served 7,738 new households and 22,102 new individuals between Logan and Clark counties alone. At an Empty Bowls event, normally held annually in each of the three counties, people typically pay $15 to receive a locally thrown bowl, soup, and bread, helping to fill empty bowls of the hungry in each community. One $15 bowl provides 75 meals according to SHFB.
In 2019, Empty Bowls, which exemplifies Wittenberg’s service-based mission, set a new record by raising $50,187. Wittenberg’s Department of Art in conjunction with SHFB normally hosts the Empty Bowls fundraiser, which serves as a reminder to all students to discern their vocations and to understand the meaningful connection between self-fulfillment and service to the world.
Wittenberg ceramics students, faculty, staff, and a few community members make the handcrafted ceramic bowls used at the event. Empty Bowls' "Throwing Days" take place throughout the year as bowls are thrown, glazed and fired. In total, more than 1,000 bowls are created for the fundraising event.
Among this year’s sponsors are A&E Powder Coating, Amanda Easterday from Always Sunny Realty, Antigone and Samuel Petroff, Berner Screen Print, Betsy and James Dean, Clark Schaefer Hackett, Cole Acton Harmon Dunn, Community Health Foundation, Mayor Warren Copeland, Corrotec Incorporated, Dana and Judy King, King Kennel, Debbie Henderson, Dole, Douglas Lehman, Dr. Michael and Ann DuVall, Edward Jones, Becky Gorby Financial Advisor, Express Employment Professionals, Fluid Quip INC, Gretchen Krafft, Grimes Rohl, Hatch Artist Studio, Heidelberg Distributing Company, Honda, Huntington National Bank, IH Credit Union, Kroger, Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, Marathon Petroleum Company, Mary Alice and Steve Neely, Mike and Sharon Frandsen, Mitchell and Dulce Hurst, Nancy Cavanaugh, OIC of Clark County INC, Paul and Cynthia Valente, Pennsylvania House Museum, Philip Teusink, Reliant Restoration, Richards, Raff, and Dunbar Memorial Home, Roost Real Estate, Schneider’s Florist, Sharon Greitzer, Shashi and Amrit Chadha, Speedway, State Representative Kyle Koehler, Stephen P. Moody, Strileckyj Law Office LLC, Terri Parmley, Tom and Lou Loftis, Vein Solutions & Demeter Surgical, Villa Springfield Rehabilitation and Healthcare, Wallace and Turner, Walt’s Auto INC., and Wittenberg University.
As the only food bank in Clark, Champaign, and Logan counties, SHFB 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, then warehousing the inventory to be distributed to agency members throughout a three-county service area.
About Second Harvest: Second Harvest Food Bank of Clark, Champaign, and Logan Counties, a member of Feeding America, serves the tri-county community by sourcing, collecting, storing, and distributing over six million pounds of food to 65 non-profit member agencies who feed the hungry directly. Second Harvest is focused on bringing healthy, nutritious food to those in our communities struggling with hunger through innovative programs such as senior food initiatives and mobile pantry distributions.
