Empty Bowls
February 20, 2008 from 11 am - 1 pm
Held at the Crystal Coast Civic Center
3505 Arendell St. Morehead City.
Profits donated will benefit food banks and soup kitchens of Carteret County.
For $12 you receive an beautiful hand crafted soup bowl and delicious soup.
Beginning Jan. 5 tickets available in advance at various locations.
Art Escapes & Frames -
Cape Carteret Aquatic & Wellness Center 252-393-1000 Crystal Coast Civic Center 252-247-3883
Carteret Community College's Book Store & Library
Handscapes Gallery
Empty Bowls 2006
Fund-raiser bowls ’em over in Morehead City February 23,2006
JANNETTE PIPPIN View stories by reporter
DAILY NEWS STAFF
MOREHEAD CITY — After a week of helping load and unload pottery bowls from the kiln, West Carteret High School art student Hanna Flynn watched Wednesday as a crowd swarmed around tables full of the handmade creations.
Carteret County’s annual Empty Bowls fund-raiser has grown into a popular community event, and the pottery that symbolizes the fight against hunger are a favorite centerpiece.
When the doors opened at the Crystal Coast Civic Center, there was a rush to find just the right bowl to take home.
“People came in with an intense look in their eyes,” laughed Flynn as the crowd around the pottery tables thinned and headed to the soup line, where nearly 25 soups donated from county restaurants were served.
Flynn was one of the volunteers who made the third annual Empty Bowls event possible. And all around there were signs of community support, from the handmade bowls donated for the event to the Carteret Community College culinary arts students serving the meal and the background music of a high school jazz band.
“I think it brings a lot of people together for a good cause, and it’s something really different,” Flynn said.
The “Empty Bowl” concept began in the early 1990s with an idea by a Michigan art teacher and his students to raise awareness of world hunger. The idea behind the bowl is to remind people that there are always those whose bowls are empty.
The ceramic bowls are sold to area residents, who in turn sit down to a meal of soup and bread. Proceeds go to community efforts to fight hunger.
Carteret County resident Ginny Bankov saw an Empty Bowls fund-raiser in Wilmington and stepped up three years ago to help bring a similar event here. Proceeds from Carteret County’s event go to Hope Mission’s soup kitchen ministry, Martha’s Mission Cupboard food pantry, and the Helpline Emergency Food Fund.
There were 300 bowls sold in the first year and the event has quickly grown to 500 bowls.
Bankov said it’s all due to the individuals and groups that contribute their time and efforts as well as the community members who attend.
“It’s a true commitment of the community and I know we could have sold 500 more tickets,” she said.
Co-workers Betty Cox of Havelock and Carole Bujakowski of Newport attended last year’s event and were eager to return this year.
“We’re not just giving money, we’re taking care of our own,” Bujakowski said.
Many in attendance, including a large contingent of Red Hat Society members, called Empty Bowls a good cause with a fun and unique twist. The “Moreheadresses,” gathered recently to paint and decorate 150 bowls for the event and came decked out in red hats to show their support.
“I feel like it’s just a wonderful, most creative event,” said Natalie Hamilton, a Red Hat member who also volunteers at Hope Mission.
Bridges Street Pottery owner Scott Haines, a pottery instructor at the college, has been part of Carteret’s Empty Bowl’s event since the beginning.
“It’s a great cause all the way around and it gets people interested in the art,” he said.
Haines, together with Pam Holliday and Brent Wheelwright, made 300 of the bowls donated for the event.
Wheelwright learned the craft from Haines and after helping make many of the bowls he attended the Empty Bowls event to help with the pottery demonstrations.
“It’s been a great experience finding out what (Empty Bowls) is all about and I particularly like that we’re going to be doing demonstrations,” he said. “Everyone will get to see the process.”