Filling Stomachs With Empty Bowls

A poster for Watauga’s Empty Bowls event hangs on a bulletin board at Watauga High School. Empty Bowls has existed for more than 30 years. Photo Credit: Aspen Hickman

Aspen Hickman, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

In 1990, a ceramics teacher in Michigan wanted to participate in a local food drive with his students. This began Empty Bowls, an event that has spread across the country and the world. Watauga’s own Empty Bowls will be held on March 21st from 4:00 to 6:00.

“Empty Bowls has been an event here at Watauga High School for 20-plus years,” said Sam Brown, a ceramics teacher at Watauga High School. “We raise money for the Hunger and Health Coalition, and potters will donate bowls. Then the students and volunteers in the National Arts Honors Society will sell the bowls for a ticket price. This year, per ticket, it's $40. You buy your ticket, you get your bowl, and then you get soup, and the soup is donated by restaurants in the community.”

Watauga’s Empty Bowls has always funded the Hunger and Health Coalition (HHC), a local nonprofit which provides food and medicine to those in need. The HHC has been in operation since 1982, beginning as a food pantry and expanding to provide medicine and health care in 1995.

“From July 2024 through June of 2025, we distributed 19,500 food boxes,” said Kayla Lasure, Director of Marketing and Communications at the HHC. “During that time, we also distributed $3,800,000 worth of medications to the community. For mobile delivery during that year, we did 3,800 mobile delivery visits, so that's how many times that we delivered to folks at their house. We had 2,500 patient visits at our free clinic.”

Like many nonprofits during the pandemic, the HHC experienced a rise in demand for their services, and the same is true after Hurricane Helene. Empty Bowls helps to provide the funding that the HHC needs to provide its services. 

“Over the course of these 23 years, $160,000 have been raised through this event for HHC,” said Lasure. “In the last handful of years, we have taken on a little bit more of a planner role. But really, it’s a warm community event.”

At Empty Bowls this year, there will be a silent auction and live music in addition to food and handmade pottery. Desserts will be provided by local churches, and everything other than the silent auction is covered by the tickets to the event. 

“I feel like a lot of events I've thought about are not focused purely on community,” said Brown. “And at Empty Bowls, everyone's just eating soup in a room. I feel like that's really unique and special, just, sitting down and doing something very human and just talking to maybe somebody you typically wouldn't talk to, or maybe see someone you haven't seen in a long time. I always have conversations with people I haven't seen in years at Empty Bowls, and I think that's really special as well.”