For the 24th year in a row, the community will come together to help fight food insecurity through the Empty Bowls fundraiser.
Set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 10 in the culinary department at the Saulsbury Campus Center at Odessa College, it features ceramic bowls made by people across Odessa and Midland, plus soup, bread, a drink and dessert for $15 and a silent auction, said University of Texas Permian Basin Associate Professor of Art Chris Stanley, one of the founders of the event.
The silent auction is run by UTPB graduate and Ector County ISD Director of Early Childhood Beatris Mata, Stanley said.
Attendees get to keep the bowls. Those who make the bowls sign them EB for Empty Bowls so the creator remains anonymous.
Empty Bowls is held at different locations in Odessa and Midland every year. Stanley said it now seems that UTPB, Odessa College and Midland College have come together and are participating on a “very equal footing.”
He added that he’s excited OC is hosting this year.
The bowls were made at Crockett Middle School, Midland College, Odessa College and the Ellen Noël Art Museum among others.
“The goal is that each group donates 300 goals apiece,” Stanley said.
That’s 300 bowls from each entity.
“The hope being that you get that many people from those community events to show up. That’s always a challenge. We want to spread the word as far afield as possible for people to come to the event, because 100% of the proceeds go to the West Texas Food Bank. As an interesting tidbit that I’m sure my undergraduates are interested in is that 70% of the children enrolled in public school in Ector County, live beneath the poverty level. We know that those bowls that we’re making are going to feed 65 people a bowl for the price of admission,” Stanley said.
The bowls will be out at the event and people can shop for Christmas and birthdays, for example.
“A lot of the potters have gotten really, really good at making sets, so what you’ll find is people going around and buying dinnerware sets at the event,” Stanley said. “They pick the bowl out and then they go get their soup and then they eat, and if they want to come back — there’s no restriction on how much soup you eat.”
Odessa College is providing the meal.
Stanley said his dream for 2025 is to have Empty Bowls back at UTPB where it started and have a variety of locally owned restaurants with different soups participate.
“In a way, we’re lifting up those locally owned restaurants. Here’s the common message for the last 24 years: We cannot solve global problems locally, but we sure as hell can solve local problems locally. We have the ability to fight things like illiteracy and we have the ability to fight things like hunger and food anxiety, but in a lot of cases, you just think everything’s so global, you don’t do anything,” Stanley said.
The hope is that more people will join in the Empty Bowls effort. Stanley added that OC hosting is bringing the power of all the local higher education institutions to bear on the venture.
“It’s not like anybody’s flag waving. It’s being done by people who historically you don’t see doing fundraisers. This is not the high-dollar fundraiser that a lot of people think of when they’re doing fundraising. This is very much ecumenical,” Stanley said.
OC Art Instructor Daiken Asakawa has been involved in Empty Bowls for many years.
“In the beginning, I thought of it as a good cause and a good practice for my craft. Then it really evolved into giving back to the community. Now I am using it as a teaching tool,” Asakawa said.
Odessa College has offered a few Empty Bowl making classes. There are still students from those classes that have stuck around.
“I think we’ve built a family through Empty Bowls,” Asakawa said.
He added that the ceramics instructors work well together.
Asakawa said he’s not sure how many students have been involved in Empty Bowls through the years, but more than 60 OC employees have.
“I would love to see this family grow,” he added.
He added that people should come to the event and enjoy the bowls and the soup.
Food vendors are Odessa College Grab ‘n Go, ECISD Culinary Arts, West Texas Food Bank Kid’s Kitchen and Chili’s.
