Letter to the Editor

Bowls raise $2,700 to fight hunger

To the editor:

The "Stone Soup" fable weaves the story of a hungry peasant setting up a kettle in the city square and adding a stone. Skeptical interest was aroused by the unlikely adequacy of a stone to produce nourishing soup. Conversations with passers-by resulted in the invitation to add a simple ingredient until the community members contributed enough to create a banquet for all, including the hungry peasant.

The Cape Girardeau community demonstrated her collective will to fight hunger with generous support of the Empty Bowl Project on Sunday. The first ingredient was cold, damp clay formed by the human touch and fired under great heat to create 394 bowls. Generous donations of soup ingredients added a simple meal. The effort raised $2,700 to divide with Bootheel Food Bank, Red Star Baptist Church and Salvation Army.

Thanks to all the ingredient providers: Jars of Clay Pottery Studio (Pam Duncan, instructor), Krueger's Pottery, River's Edge Pottery Guild (Julie Bricknell), Southeast Missouri State University's Ceramics I class (Benjie Heu, instructor), Concord Publishing, Michael Bricknell and Dane Lincoln for graphic arts, Grace Cafe, Sysco Foods, Panera Bread, the Student Dietetic Association of Southeast Missouri State University (Jen Lowrance, student coordinator), the Community and Nutrition class (Anne Marietta, professor), U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, Orthopaedic Associates, Cape Area Family Resource Center's senior adults and children amateur potters, and many generous and talented potters. Thanks to the Southeast Missourian for following this unfolding story.

Bowls are available at Jars of Clay Pottery Studio, 823 Broadway, through Nov. 17.

DENISE LINCOLN, Cape Girardeau