Empty Bowls fundraiser at Saline High School Thursday will benefit Food Gatherers

Harvest Elementary School students' creations for the Empty Bowls Project.

Courtesy photo

Students, teachers and administrators from the Saline Area Schools have put their artistic talents to work making hundreds of bowls for a new fundraising effort called “The Empty Bowls Project.”

Together, they are working to “fight hunger one bowl at a time,” for Food Gatherers of Washtenaw County, which will benefit from an event scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 3, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Saline High School Commons.

Participants can choose a bowl to take home from the 500 made and donated to the project, then enjoy several types of soup, bread, a beverage and dessert. Student musicians will serenade them while they eat.

This is the first time we’ve done “The Empty Bowls Project,” said Steve Laatsch, assistant superintendent of instructional services for the Saline Area Schools. “We think it’s creating a bit of a buzz in the community.”

The soup choices include a vegetable soup made by students in the culinary arts program at Saline High School.

The idea came from a parent, Betsy DiMaggio, who suggested it about six months ago, Laatsch said, and as of last week, more than 120 tickets had already been sold. Laatsch ’s expecting about 400 people during the two-hour time frame.

Harvest Elementary students show off bowls they made. From left are Samantha Rice, Reagan Recchia, Noah Nelson, Jason Head and Erin O'Neill.

Courtesy photo

Tickets are $10 per person or $30 for a family and can be purchased at payschools.com. Laatch said there will be a limited amount of tickets available at the door for $12 per person or $35 per family.

Among the bowls donated to the project were 130 made by third-graders at Harvest Elementary School. Other students in grades three through 12 also made bowls for the event.

“It was a great message for students of this age to hold an empty bowl and realize that not everyone has food to put in their bowls,” said Cindy Larson, an an art teacher at Harvest. “It gave us teachers an opportunity to teach more about organizations such as Food Gatherers.”

Laatsch said more than 500 bowls were made for the service project.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter with AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Saline stories, visit our Saline page.

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