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News

Charity event serves a bowlful

by RUTHIE RODRIGUEZ
The Daily Cougar

Houston-area artisans took a stand in the fight against hunger as they rendered one-of-a-kind, handcrafted bowls at the third annual Empty Bowls, Houston event Saturday at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and Lawndale Art Center.

"I thought that this is such a soul-satisfying way to be able to contribute to the community in some way as an artist," River Oaks Elementary teacher and local potter Renee Lieber said. "We don't get opportunities like that very much and I thought this would be an excellent way for me to contribute and encourage other young people to get involved."

Empty Bowls, part of an international effort to fight hunger, was implemented in Houston to benefit the Houston Food Bank. 

For a $25 donation, attendees received lunch prepared by the Houston Food Bank Community Kitchen, and then selected a bowl from hundreds of dishes donated by Houston-area ceramists and other craft artists.

The empty bowls served as a reminder of all the empty bowls and hungry people in the Houston community and in the world. 

The lunch fundraiser was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Empty Bowls Committee, led by chairwoman Lotus Witt, HCCC, Lawndale Art Center and countless Houston-area artists. As a member of the Houston Potter's Guild and a UH ceramics professor, Witt was able to conjure a profound amount of supporters for the event. 

"These artists are creating a way to provide sustenance in other people's lives," Paula Murphy, Empty Bowls committee member and Houston Foodbank public relations coordinator said. 

The Glassell School of Art, Gulf Coast Woodturners and Houston Area Blacksmith Association along with a slew of other Houston-area artists contributed bowls for the event. 

During the past two years the event was able to raise more than $41,650 to benefit the Houston Food Bank. 

"In the past the money we've raised for this event may not sound like much, but when you think about the fact that we can leverage every dollar we spend into eight dollars of food that actually goes on the table of hungry people and the large return on the investment, it makes a big difference," Houston Food Bank Development Officer Joan Smith said. "We can help feed the 35,000 people in Houston that are waking up hungry everyday."

This year the estimated goal was set at $35,000. 

To help promote Empty Bowls, Houston, Whole Foods Market hosted Community Giving Day on Wednesday in which 5 percent of total sales from Houston-area markets was contributed to the food bank to help fight hunger.

"We're about food and this is about the needy and the hungry so it's a logical fit for us," Whole Foods Market Community Relations Coordinator Candyce Speidel said. 
 

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