Empty Bowls *to go* returns Friday, March 25 @ 4:30
Empty Bowls, an annual fundraiser to aid the hungry, returns this Friday at Messalonskee High School to once more provide participants with a comforting meal, an attractive bowl, and the satisfaction of combating food insecurity in their community.
The event is scheduled from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria and, as is the tradition, coincides with the opening night of Messalonskee’s spring play, which this year is Puff.
Cost for the meal is $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors.
Unlike previous years, Empty Bowls is a take-out format this spring. For the fee, participants get their choice of one of more than 200 ceramic bowls created in the classroom of Messalonskee art teacher Sherrie Damon.
For many in the area, the event is a highly anticipated ritual. “I like that the community members who participate in Empty Bowls look forward to it each year,” Damon said.
Damon said students in her art classes and volunteers after school created the bowls, going through a multi-step process that transforms a two-pound chunk of clay into a utilitarian work of art.
Those who partake in Empty Bowls get to fill their bowls from a wide selection of various soups as part of a meal that includes a dinner roll, a bottle of water, and dessert.
Started by a couple of teachers in Michigan more than 30 years ago, Empty Bowls has become an international event. Damon said Messalonskee held its first Empty Bowls supper more than a decade ago.
For an art teacher, Damon said the Empty Bowls concept is an ideal way to raise money for a good cause. “I do like that I’m able to make that connection of using your art to help people,” she said. Proceeds from the fundraiser go to food banks in Oakland, Sidney, and Belgrade.