Empty Bowls, a project designed by The Imagine Render Group, a nonprofit organization created to feed the hungry in Paducah, Ky., and surrounding areas, was held Saturday, Feb. 23.
The event which is organized in collaboration by local community members, artists and restaurants, fills handmade empty bowls to raise awareness and funds for poverty in Paducah.
“The mission is to provide funding for local hunger issues,” Michael Terra, event coordinator, said. “In this particular case, we have a situation in which there is a community kitchen that provides a free lunch five days a week, and they serve more than 5,400 meals a year. This is an expression of a huge amount of need, a need that no one else talks about, so we decided that we need to do something about that.”
The annual event, which just completed its third year, has grown drastically since the first Empty Bowls event.
“The first year I did it, I was expecting maybe 500 people, but I had more than 900,” Terra said. “The second year I thought, ‘Well, maybe I can get 1,200,’ and I got 1,400. I was over-the-top excited with that number, and this year, we had more than 1,500 people attend.”
Empty Bowls gained its name from the main element of the event, the bowls. Terracottage Ceramics, Terra’s personal business, hand crafts more than 1,500 bowls that can then be glazed by people who cycle through his shop throughout the year. The bowls are then used with the event. The empty bowls are filled with food donated by local restaurants and raise money to feed the hungry in Paducah.
“Getting the restaurants to donate food is really about just going in to talk to folks and plead my case,” Terra said. “Once people see that our studio does so much, they really seem to get on board. When they see what we do, they seem to decide that they can at least do some small portion, too. They have been a great help.”
Every detail of the event has been meticulously planned throughout the year, all the way down to the date.
“The Empty Bowls Project does not happen in the spring or fall because farms generally have extra produce during that time that they donate to the community kitchen,” Terra said. “Because of that, we schedule the Empty Bowls now to kind of patch over this rough season because they aren’t getting that free food. This way, we can raise enough money so that they can purchase the food they need to get through this time.”
This year, the Empty Bowls Project exceeded its fundraising goals
and gave each participant something to consider at the day’s end.
“I hope that three weeks from now, when everyone looks at their bowl, they remember the issue and think, ‘hey, I can go help out, I can donate
a little time or maybe I’ll cut them a check; it’s been a little cold,’” Terra said. “I hope that now that they have the durable reminder – the bowl –
that doesn’t go away, they will think to go and help out withing the community.”
Story by Shannon MacAllister, Staff writer.