Empty Bowls returns to IU East on March 29. IU East students and local community potters prepared 250 ceramic bowls for this year’s event. The bowls are glazed before the event to raise funds to fight hunger.

Members of the community are invited to Empty Bowls from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29, at Indiana University East in the Whitewater Hall Lobby.

In exchange for a cash donation, guests are invited to select a bowl, crafted by IU East ceramics students and local potters, and enjoy soup provided by The Den.

The participating community potters include Lynne Glass Clayworks in Richmond; Brian Haviland, owner of Haviland Stone Pottery in Richmond; Elmtree Pottery in Richmond; John Peterson Pottery in Albany, Indiana; Denise Dubois, co-owner of Act 3 Pottery and Supply in Connersville, Indiana; and Preble Clayworks and Apiary in West Alexandria, Ohio.

In preparation for the upcoming Empty Bowls event, students, faculty and staff were invited to flex their creativity by glazing the 250 handcrafted bowls during IU East’s Glaze-a-Thon on March 11.

Proceeds will benefit The Pantry at IU East, which provides food and toiletries to students in need.

The cost per bowl is $12 or $10 for students. Bowl sales open at noon, and donors may purchase two bowls. T-shirts will be available for purchase for $10 and will also benefit The Pantry.

After the event, donors may keep their bowls as a reminder that someone’s bowl is always empty.

IU East’s Empty Bowls event was originally established in 2014 by Carrie Longley, assistant professor of Fine Arts. The event was inspired by the international grassroots effort of the same name, created by The Imagine Render Group to fight hunger.

Empty Bowls is sponsored by IU East School of Humanities and Social Sciences.