DOTHAN, Ala. – One $10 bowl can feed a family of four for one week.
“Every bowl that we sell at Empty Bowls represents a family that’s going to be fed,” said Julie Gonzalez, assistant director for the Wiregrass Area Food Bank.
Empty Bowls Dothan is now in its ninth year, and this year’s sale will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Cultural Arts Center in Dothan. Similar events are held around the country and across the globe to raise awareness about hunger in communities. The grassroots effort was started in the 1990s by art educators.
Bowls are made from stoneware clay by different groups of community volunteers throughout the year. The bowls are painted and decorated and then glazed. They are safe for food and microwave use. This year’s bowl-making has been a little different due to the pandemic, but volunteers still managed to make enough, Empty Bowls Dothan founder Lynn Koning said.
There will be 400 bowls for sale on Saturday. Some bowls have been hand painted by local artists and will sell for $25, Koning said. But most will be priced at $10.
The event has grown so that volunteers return year after year to make bowls. And, Koning said, the volunteer bowl makers get more creative each year. Participants make bowls or buy bowls because they know they’re helping their community, she said.
