On Nov. 18 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser will be held at the Wheelock School gymnasium. Proceeds will be donated to combat food insecurity in the community.

“If you’re in the market for a nice soup bowl or ice cream bowl … this is a great place to go get it,” Organizer Ron Nasca said.

About 20 potters will be making handmade bowls to be featured at the event. Nasca estimated 1,100 bowls will be available at the event for purchase.

“I always tell people, if you like the bowl, pick it up and take it with you,” Nasca said. “It won’t be there when you come back if you just leave it there.”

The Empty Bowls annual fundraiser is set for Nov. 18. Pictured is an Empty Bowls event from a previous year.

Nasca, a potter himself, has used clay from Dunkirk in recent years to create many of his bowls. He hopes this year to incorporate clay from Fredonia, as well, which dates back to the 1820s when the Darwin R. Barker Historical Museum was originally constructed.

Just like the clay Nasca works with, the concept of Empty Bowls is nothing new. In the early 1990s, Empty Bowls fundraisers were held in various states across the country to support local communities battling food insecurity. The event began in Michigan, but has expanded across the U.S., with notable events in West Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, and even in Houston, Texas.

Former event coordinator Marvin Bjurlin, who was a ceramics teacher at SUNY Fredonia, brought the event to northern Chautauqua County. Bjurlin was a graduate assistant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when John Hartom started the first Empty Bowls event in 1990.

“He was teaching high school when he started this. He started it as a way to have his students make bowls. He invited colleagues to have soup lunch in the cafeteria and make a small contribution for the bowl,” Bjurlin said.

Nasca stated that locally, the tradition began in 2007 at St. John’s Church on Central Avenue in Dunkirk. The first year, approximately $5,000 was raised to be donated to the Rural Ministry to feed the hungry.

As of last year, Jamestown has also begun its own Empty Bowls event, organized by Rev. Luke Fodor of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

To date, nearly $300,000 has been raised over more than a decade to fight food insecurity in the community.

“We have a lake to our back, so we can’t draw from a lot of people. It points to the fact that this is a really big deal,” said Nasca. ‘It’s overwhelming, actually. … It’s just crazy how much support we get from the community. It’s amazing.”

Soups will be prepared by culinary arts students from BOCES to be served to guests in attendance. Due to the pandemic, Empty Bowls had refrained from serving soups to guests in recent years. But this year, that tradition returns.

To keep the newly purchased bowls ready to be given as gifts with the holidays near, guests will be served soups in compostable bowls with compostable spoons, which will then be composted on site at Wheelock.

Cash, credit cards, and checks are all accepted at the event. Prices vary in increments of $5, with each potter setting the price for their work.