Raising hunger awareness through Empty Bowls

The Empty Bowls fundraiser was started by an art teacher in Battle Creek 24 years ago.

Since then, it has grown into an international campaign.  Students at North Star Academy hosted their own rendition Friday.

It is the eighth year the school has participated in the fundraiser, which raises funds for those in need, while educating students and the community about the prevalence of poverty.

For a suggested $10 or $15 donation, participants were given a free meal, a owl as a reminder that many people in the world don’t have enough food.

“It’s not that (in the) world we don’t produce enough food, it’s more about poverty and so our students are learning that and recognizing it, so they actually created place mats for the event, wrote little essays on information on whatever their chosen country, area-region was, so those are available so that while people are eating they can learn about those regions, ” North Star Academy Service Learning Coordinator Joy Bender-Hadley said.

“What I find the most interesting about it, and most rewarding is how everyone can gather as a community to donate towards a cause and it just shows how everyone cares,” North Star Academy senior Benjamin Berger said.  “Some of us might have that ignorant part about us where we just like focus on what’s in front of us.  I didn’t really notice that there was hunger in this area.”

The Empty Bowls campaign raised $1,733 with about 120 people coming out to support the cause.  This year, the money raised will go to various organizations, including Voices for Youth and Marquette Ending Hunger.

For more information on the campaign, visit emptybowls.net.