Bowls created by Watauga’s ceramics students
Empty Bowls is a fundraiser to raise awareness and funds to reduce hunger in the community. During this exhibition, people pay twenty-five dollars to donate to the Hunger and Health Coalition. In return, they receive a free handcrafted bowl and locally made soup. Local art teachers Ellie Lowry and Dana Tretheway have been involved in the development of Empty Bowls at Watauga High School.
“Empty Bowls started just wanting to help out my mentor teacher Ms. Tretheway, as she has been the driving force of Empty Bowls,” said Lowry. “I like how it brings the community together, specifically artists and potters. It's really great to see everyone come out for it.”
Empty Bowls is a local and global effort to help positively impact as many people as possible.
“Empty Bowls originally started with one high school art teacher in Michigan in the 1970s to raise funds and awareness about hunger in their own community," Tretheway said. "Empty Bowls at WHS was started by one student over 20 years ago."
Since then, Empty Bowls has been impacting the community in meaningful ways. Empty Bowls proves that just one idea can make a big difference.
“The primary goal of Empty Bowls is to raise money for the hunger and health coalition they help with food disparity in our area," Lowry said. "They also want to make people aware of this issue in our community."
The more eyes and attention we as a society can bring to this huge issue, the better, especially when it comes to our community.
“Hunger is a growing problem in the world, the US, and right here in Watauga County– where currently 1 in 7 people have food insecurity, and 1 in 4 children don’t know where their next meal will come from,” said Tretheway.
Empty Bowls is a thought-provoking way to provide for the community. The Hunger and Health Coalition hopes to give back to the community one bowl at a time.
“Hunger and Health Coalition’s chapter starts in Boone. The more money they have, the more people they can reach, the more groceries they can give," Lowry said. "We always try and raise as much money as possible and the community shows up in a big way every year since the biggest goal of Empty Bowls is that sense of mutual aid."
Empty Bowls wouldn’t have been possible without the community or people working behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. It’s inspiring to see how much joy their work can inspire.
“My favorite things include how caring, generous and creative our community is. I really look forward to seeing the variety of beautiful bowls donated and artwork for our silent auction table and the different soups,including from our WHS Foods Team/Students, along with the many familiar and new faces of people who come out to enjoy it all,” Tretheway said. “I especially love working together with our art team and dedicated student volunteers who always do a great job to prep, set up, run and close Empty Bowls. It is a lot of work, but we are always energized from it.”
Empty Bowls is a lot of work but to see everyone's happy faces makes it all worth it.
“We would love to see you all for WHS Empty Bowls next year on Saturday, March 22. We hope you’ll mark your calendars!” Tretheway said.
Empty Bowls plants the seed of positive growth and change, inspiring hope that we as a society are moving in the right direction.
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