Carleton College Hosts Annual “Empty Bowls” Fundraiser for Local Food Shelf

Carleton College will host its fifth annual “Empty Bowls” fundraiser at noon on Friday, May 15. This popular yearly event will take place on the campus Bald Spot, following a convocation given by Susannah Morgan, Carleton Class of 1991 and executive director of the Alaska Food Bank, focused on hunger issues in America. The event features homemade soup prepared by students, and served in one-of-a-kind ceramic bowls handmade by studio art students. For a suggested minimum donation of $10, participants may select a bowl, and enjoy a simple meal of soup and bread. All proceeds will be donated to the Northfield Action Food Shelf. Attendees are asked to arrive early, as bowls and soup usually sell out quickly. In the event of rain, the fundraiser will be moved to the Great Hall in the Sayles Hill campus center. This event is open to the public.

For the past five years, students from professor Kelly Connole’s advanced ceramics course have participated in this unique civic engagement project designed to raise money for the Northfield Action Food Shelf; last year’s event earned over $5,425. Once the students create over 350 bowls, they collaborate with various interest houses on campus to prepare pots of homemade soup. Participants, who are encouraged to make a minimum donation of $10, keep their bowl as a reminder that three square meals a day are often taken for granted, and that many bowls remain empty around the globe. Founded in 1990 by a rural Michigan art teacher and his students, “Empty Bowls” is now a nation-wide movement conducted by art teachers and elementary to college level students.

This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Art and Art History. For more information, visit the Empty Bowls blog, or contact Patt Germann at (507) 222-4341.