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Memphis fills empty bowls

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Memphis artists have donated hand-painted and crafted bowls to raise awareness and support for local hunger and homelessness.

According to its website, the Empty Bowls project originated in Michigan in 1990 when a class of high school students and their teacher wanted to find a way to raise money for a food drive. Now, there are Empty Bowl projects throughout the United States and at least 12 other countries.

The Memphis Empty Bowls project is Sunday at 5 p.m. at Church Health Center Wellness. A minimum donation of $20 is required to attend the event, but the cost includes a soup and bread meal and one of the empty bowls that will be donated.

Artists, potters and other community members came together to create and design the handcrafted bowls. There will be over 300 different bowls at the Memphis project for guests to choose from.

"The empty bowl is a powerful symbol because guests leave the event with a literal empty bowl as a reminder of all the people in our community who face hunger," Sarah Ranson, one of the co-chairs for the project, said.

Ranson said she and her co-chair Jaime Winton volunteer at a local food pantry and decided to start this event because they saw the need to help with hunger in the community. She said Winton is an artist who wants to create "art as an act of compassion," and after she learned about the Empty Bowl project she found it reflected that idea.

"The event raises funds for hunger-relief agencies, but also raises awareness about food insecurity in our community," Ranson said. "We hope guests will leave feeling empowered to do something about the problem."

One in five people in Shelby County faces food insecurity, which is higher than the national average of one in eight.

"Memphis is one of the hungriest cities in the nation," Christine Jehu, a volunteer for the project, said. "We have so much wealth next door to so much need."

Jehu is a doctoral student at the University of Memphis. She said she heard about the project at her church.

"One of my passions is to raise awareness for people with food insecurities," she said.

The profits from the Memphis event will go to Mid-South Food Bank, the Food/Hunger Ministries of St. John's United Methodist Church and the community nutritional education program provided by the Church Health Center.

 


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