Artisans supporting food banks

~"Empty Bowls" organizers have sold about 200 of the handmade items.

A fund-raiser in need of empty bowls got quite a few last Friday made by Southeast Missouri State students.

"We knew they were making some, but we didn't think it would be quite that many," said co-organizer and local potter Pam Duncan of the more than 100 bowls made by students in Benji Heu's ceramics classes.

The event, "Empty Bowls," is being put on by artisans to support local food pantries. It will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Salvation Army at 701 Good Hope St.

Beginning in April, organizers asked potters to donate bowls, and to date they have collected almost 350. At the event the ceramic bowls will serve as symbols for dishes used to feed the homeless.

Ticket holders get to keep the bowls and will receive a meal of soup and bread in a paper bowl at the event.

Organizers have sold about 200 bowls for $10 each.

All proceeds from the event will go to the Salvation Army, Red Star Food Pantry and the Bootheel Food Bank in Sikeston, Mo.

"I can tell you that no two of these bowls are alike," said co-organizer and local potter Pam Duncan. Duncan said the more unusual styles include flower-shaped and square bowls. Other designs include bowls painted like quilt patchwork and bowls emblazoned with dragonflies.

Donors of the bowls came from far and wide. Local potters supplied some, others were crafted by children and the elderly from the Cape Area Family Resource Center and others came from a statewide guild called Best of Missouri Hands.

The event will be "very casual," according to Duncan. Ticket holders will be encouraged to either sit with family and friends or go around and meet new people.

Tickets can be purchased either at Grace Cafe or at the Salvation Army the day of the event.