Arts
York High School students host "Empty Bowls" dinner to help fight hunger
YORK - Students at York High School will be holding the first Empty Bowls dinner at the school cafeteria tonight, Wednesday, May 24, from 5 to 7 p.m.A simple meal of homemade soup and bread will be served at a cost of $8 per person. The dinner is open to the public and all money raised from the event will be donated to a hunger organization that will be chosen by the students.
Students in five different art classes have been hard at work creating ceramic bowls that will be used for the dinner. Each dinner guest will be able to select a bowl for their soup that they can then take home with them when they have finished their meal.
Students in two food classes are involved in preparing the meal.
The project got its start with a visit to the classes by York resident Kari Prichard, who began the local weekly "Table of Plenty" meal project in York and South Berwick.
Prichard spoke to the students about the need right here in York on the part of some families and individuals for food.
Darrah Mont also spoke to the students about other local efforts to provide food assistance to those in need, including the York Food Pantry and the York Community Service Association, which organizes the holiday food baskets each Thanksgiving and Christmas and is starting an emergency food bank.
Students have also learned how serious the issues of hunger and malnutrition are in many areas around the world.
The Empty Bowls project originated in 1990 when a high school art teacher in Michigan helped his students find a way to raise funds to support a food drive. What evolved was a class project to make ceramic bowls for a fundraising meal where guests were served a simple meal of soup and bread and were invited to keep the bowl as a reminder of hunger in the world.
By the following year, the originators had developed this concept in Empty Bowls, a project to provide support for food banks, soup kitchens and other organizations that fight hunger.
A non-profit organization was created to promote the project. Since then, Empty Bowls events have been held throughout the world and millions of dollars have been raised to combat hunger.
Several local restaurants and food purveyors are providing support for this dinner, including the Inn at Long Sands, the Stage Neck Inn, the Stolen Menu Café, The Weathervane, When Pigs Fly Bakery and Hannaford.
For more information, contact York High School at 363-3621
