Bowls for cause looks to help less fortunate
Ben Garcia
Mesa Community College will host the annual Empty Bowls event on Oct. 17.
The event, located on the Southern and Dobson Mesa Community College campus, allows students, faculty, and the public to raise money and awareness about hunger in the local community in observance of World Hunger Day.
All the bowls for the event are hand-made by local artists and students in the ceramics classes.
“Everything is donated for this event, including the clay, the bowls, and the food,” said Linda Speranza, director of the Empty Bowls event.
Empty Bowls is a national movement that fundraises to feed the hungry in local communities.
For $10, people can purchase a hand-crafted bowl, then feast on a meal of soup, water, and bread to get an idea of what it is like for those who are hungry.
Empty Bowls volunteer Geri Rasmussen likes what this event has to offer the community.
“It brings the community together for the purpose of raising money for the issue of hunger.”
The money raised from the event will go to Paz de Cristo Community Center in Mesa, where they help feed the homeless, working poor, and unemployed within the East Valley.
In 2011, the event raised $19,000 with more than 1,000 bowls made.
There will also be an Empty Bowls event at the Red Mountain Campus on Oct. 24.
“Hopefully, people will have an awareness of local hunger and how it affects everyday lives,” Speranza said.
