04.08.2009
EMPTY BOWLS FUNDRAISER A SUCCESS
Tri-State hunger programs benefit from Huntington event
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – First Presbyterian Church in Huntington, W.Va., doesn’t normally experience hundreds of people walking through its doors with handmade pottery and gallons of soup. But this Tuesday was very different.
Students from the College of Fine Arts and W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University hosted the sixth annual Empty Bowls event at the church on Tuesday. The event raised nearly $18,000 for the Huntington Area Food Bank (HAFB), a nonprofit food distribution center that provides food to soup kitchens, emergency relief shelters and other hunger programs throughout the Tri-State.
This year’s event nearly doubled the amount raised last year, according to campaign organizers, and surpassed the students’ goal of $12,000.
“Each dollar that was donated at Empty Bowls will allow us to distribute seven pounds of food to the hungry in our region,” said Jon Rickey, director of the HAFB. “Everyone who provided us with a $12 donation will feed an entire family for three weeks.”
Every guest who donated $12 received a soup lunch donated by area restaurants and a ceramic bowl, handmade by students in the Keramos Student Pottery Guild at Marshall University. The bowls serve as a lasting reminder of the ongoing hunger problem in our region.
“When you see one of these bowls, you’re reminded that there are hungry people in our region,” said Tommy Warf, ceramics student.
“The bowl is the universal symbol for hospitality and giving, and what more appropriate form could we use to help others?” said Earline Allen, ceramics professor.
In addition to receiving lunch, the nearly 800 people in attendance at Empty Bowls had the opportunity to bid on dozens of items at a silent auction. Some of the items included gift baskets from local businesses, sports memorabilia autographed by Marshall athletes and coaches and even signed photographs of Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift.
“We always hear that it’s better to give than to receive, and everyone who participated in our silent auction had the fantastic opportunity to do both,” said Meagan Sellards, Empty Bowls campaign director. “Several of our guests won really great prizes, but at the same time, they contributed to a wonderful and important cause.”
Campaign Representative Erin Thompson said it was amazing to see how much the community supported the campaign.
“Before the actual event, we coordinated food drives at local businesses, awareness events at campus activities and a penny drive among some of Marshall’s fraternities and sororities,” she said. “The entire community has really pulled together for this campaign, and it’s exciting to see how much of a difference it has made.”
For more information about the HAFB, call Brooke Ash at (304) 523-6029 or e-mail hafbmail@hafb.org. For more information about the Empty Bowls event, call Campaign Director Meagan Sellards at (304) 412-5900 or e-mail emptybowls@marshall.edu. Erica Rife, the media representative, can be reached at (304) 360-3394, e-mail emptybowls@marshall.edu or visit www.marshall.edu/SOJMC.
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The Huntington Area Food Bank, Inc., is a private, nonprofit, charitable organization affiliated with Feeding America, the largest hunger relief agency in the United States. The HAFB is the hub in a network of food donors and more than 290 agencies that serve hungry people in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. The HAFB assists food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, senior citizens programs, youth programs and residential programs that directly serve the needs of the hungry. The HAFB member agencies are located in 17 counties throughout the Tri-State area. All member agencies served by the HAFB are private and nonprofit. For more information, please visit www.hafb.org.