On Friday, the Houston Food Bank collaborated with Empty Bowls to host the 7th annual UH Bowl-a-Thon, to raise for Houstonians suffering from chronic hunger.
The bowl-a-thon, initiated by art professor Lotus Bermudez, recruited students and community members to make clay bowls that will be filled with donated food for Houston’s homeless. Bermudez is one of the original volunteers, who later became a chair member around the same time she decided to teach at UH, bringing her passion for this event with her.
“I wanted to do a bowl-making event with the students here to give them the confidence to share their talents,” Bermudez said. “It’s also a way to give back to the food bank in a different way than just monetarily, or to do a food drive. I see the confidence in these students who themselves maybe have just learned to throw a few months ago.”
At the bowl-a-thon, students, friends and family were invited to contribute to a great cause while having fun and learning new skills. Participants were able to get on the wheel and throw their own bowls. Once the volunteers formed the basic shapes of the bowls, students in the clay class added the finishing touches.
“What we’re going to be doing is preparing them to be sold, so after everyone throws the bowls, we’ll be sculpting them, trimming them and glazing as part of our contribution,” photo-digital media senior Victoria Gonzalez said.
Empty Bowls Houston is working together with artists and craftspeople from all over the country who want to provide solutions to hunger in their communities. Once the bowls are finished, they are donated and taken to the Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts, where another event is held.
“It’s a really cool event. It’s just student and professional artists from all over, and there’s tables all over the place with thousands of bowls on the tables from beginner to expert level,” art senior Jeorgia Rodriguez said.
People from all over the city can pay $25 to pick out a bowl — one of over 1,000 — and fill it with soup and bread donated by Whole Foods.
The main event hosted by Empty Bowls is held May 14. All of the proceeds go to the Houston Food Bank, and Whole Foods will donate an additional 5 percent of all sales.