Empty Bowls began in 1990 as a small food drive fundraiser and has grown into an international charitable movement celebrating its 25th anniversary. It combines art and charity by hosting events where ceramic bowls made by volunteers are sold for $15 each to raise money for local food banks. Wittenberg University has held its own Empty Bowls event annually since 1994, raising over $360,000 total over 21 years for a local food bank by selling over 1,000 handmade bowls each year. This year's event set new records by raising $47,393 through bowl sales and donations to support those experiencing hunger in the community.

1. From Art to Charity
From a small food drive fundraiser in Michigan in 1990 to an international grassroots
movement celebrating its 25th year, Empty Bowls has become more than a charitable fundraiser,
and much more than an art show.
The Imagine / RENDER Group, a 501(c)3 non-profit, was created to promote this event, allowing
it to grow. Combining art with aid, Empty Bowls events take place each year at educational and
community institutions across the United States.
Wittenberg University has been holding its own version of Empty Bowls annually since 1994, and
since then has grown from 100 to 1,000 bowls a year.
Scott Dooley, Professor of Art and Chair of the Art Department, has been the faculty coordinator
for Wittenberg's Annual Empty Bowls Event since 2000 and believes the event not only raises
money, but has the ability to bring communities together.
"This is truly a community event that brings in many people from Springfield and is a major
fundraising event for Second Harvest Food Bank," Dooley said. "I am proud to say that we have
been able to grow this project by leaps and bounds even through the tough economic climate of
the last several years."
This year, Wittenberg's 21st Annual Empty Bowls Event raised $47,393 for Catholic Charities
Second Harvest Food Bank, smashing the goal of $45,000 and last years total. The event
completely sold out of the 1,025 ceramic bowls within the first hour, setting a new record.
The Empty Bowls event is unique due to the amount that is able to be donated.
"Empty Bowls is virtually a 100% profit fundraiser with almost all of the materials, food and time
donated for the event" Dooley said.
This allows the fundraiser to donate almost all of its profits to Catholic Charities Second Harvest
Food Bank, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit clearing house that collects and distributes food and
resources to the needy within Clark, Logan, and Champaign counties.
Anna Plataniotis, the Community Engagement Supervisor for Second Harvest, has been a close
contact and supporter of the event, working "tirelessly to line up food donors, event sponsors and
volunteers," Dooley said. "She does much of the event coordination and works with all the area
businesses that donate soup."
In addition, Plataniotis helped to assemble a Sponsorship Committee to solicit community
sponsors from area businesses and individuals. Collectively, those sponsors brought in $33,475
in sponsorships, without which, the event could not have reached the fundraising levels it did.
"The event went better than ever this year," Christine Steinhaus, '15, and the Empty Bowls
student coordinator, said. "We had more volunteers and the system went smoothly...[b]eing
student coordinator was definitely a step up from volunteering but Professor Dooley and Anna
have done such a great job over the years that the tasks I faced were pretty clear cut and
problem-free."
The event hinges on its volunteers, particularly Wittenberg ceramic students, staff, faculty, and a
few community members, who threw, glazed and fired all 1,025 bowls. Patrons of the event then
choose a bowl to purchase at $15 each, enjoy a soup dinner that is donated from Sodexo and
area restaurants, and then take the bowl home with them "as a reminder that there are many
people in [the] community that are hungry," Dooley said.

2. The charity is not only unique in the amount that is donated, but also in the creation of the bowls
as well.
Steinhaus, a ceramics student herself, said that the event is unique to her in the ways in which
the volunteers interact with each other. "Throwing bowls is such a fun and different way to help
those in need while still spending time with people who have the same hobby as you," Steinhaus
said.
The 21 year total for Wittenberg's Empty Bowls Event is $361,893 which equates to 1,447,572
meals for those in need in Clark, Champaign and Logan counties.
Each year the goal has gone up, and each year that goal has been broken, according to Dooley,
despite significant economic difficulties in the area. "I am continually amazed by Wittenberg and
the Springfield community," Dooley said. "Truly inspirational!"