Empty Bowls Returns to WHS on March 21st!
The beloved community event, Empty Bowls, is returning on March 21 as the Hunger and Health Coalition and Watauga High School invite the public to share a meal in support of their neighbors facing food insecurity.
How it Works
Empty Bowls is a unique collaboration where local potters and Watauga High School students spend months hand-crafting ceramic bowls. Attendees are able to pick out which handmade bowl they’d like to take home as well as enjoy soup donated by local restaurants. Proceeds from Empty Bowls go directly to the Hunger and Health Coalition, supporting the agency’s Food Pantry, Pharmacy and Free Clinic programs. Community support of this event has raised $160,000 to date for HHC, a moving display of our neighbors showing up for neighbors.
The event took a hiatus last year due to the impacts of Hurricane Helene about six months prior. Now coming back for its 23rd year, Empty Bowls will take place at the high school from 4-6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $40 at www.hungerandhealthcoalition.org
The Return of a Beloved Tradition
WHS art teachers Sam Brown and Dacia Trethewey said they are excited to be hosting Empty Bowls again.
“It was disappointing to not be able to hold the event because of Hurricane Helene. However, this year we are extremely excited to be hosting again with all of the support from previous and new potters, artists, musicians, restaurants, local parent/school groups and our Hunger and Health Coalition,” said Brown and Trethewey.
HHC Director of Development Tara Stollenmaier said Empty Bowls has been part of this community for a long time, noting it’s one of her personal favorite community events. She’s got a collection of bowls at home she’s gathered over the years of attending the event, remarking that her family members often find themselves competing for their favorite ones.
“I’m especially thankful to the Watauga High School Art Department for continuing to host it. This is truly a community event, with students, local potters, restaurants, faith groups, and volunteers coming together with care and generosity. Seeing that kind of collaboration is a powerful reminder of how deeply this community looks out for its neighbors,” Stollenmaier said.
The event wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of local potters and their craft. Andrea Connell, a ceramics professor at Appalachian State University, is overseeing her intermediate and advanced students as they prepare to make bowls for the event. She said she has been participating in various Empty Bowls events in every place she’s lived in for the last 25 years, her first being in Baltimore when she herself was a student.
As guests browse the selection of handcrafted bowls, the evening’s atmosphere will be complemented by live music provided by local artist Pressley Laton. Soup this year will be provided by a handful of restaurants including: Reid’s Catering, Over Yonder, FARM Cafe, Wildwood Market, Stick Boy, Lost Province, Coyote Kitchen, Fizz Ed and Speckled Trout. Dessert for the event is being provided by local churches, including Temple of the High Country, Boone United Methodist Church, and the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The event is sponsored by Republic Services and Melanie Lewis with Wisdom and Worth Coaching and Consulting.
Get Involved!
If a restaurant or church would like to donate food for the event, contact Director of Marketing and Communications Kayla Lasure at kayla@teamhhc.org. For those wanting to be an event sponsor, contact Stollenmaier at tara@teamhhc.org. Potters wanting to donate soup bowls or artists who will be donating silent auction items can contact Lasure, Brown at browns@watuagaschools.org or Trethewey at tretheweyd@wataugaschools.org.