Southport Magazine

***OOPS! This event is on WEDNESDAY, October 16th—not Tuesday as accidentally printed in the magazine. We apologize for any inconvenience!***

Mary Beth Johnson and Pam Ingram wrapping and packing bowls for the 2013 Empty Bowls event in Southport. Courtesy photo

What: Empty Bowls
When: Wednesday, October 16th
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Southport Community Building
223 E. Bay St., Southport
Cost: $15, includes soup and bowl
Info: (910) 457-0861

The idea is simple but the cause is extensive. Empty Bowls, an international grassroots movement, is once again being served by the Associated Artists of Southport to address local hunger and food insecurity.

In Southport, Empty Bowls takes place every four years. This will be the third affair since the local inception, taking place on Wednesday, October 16th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Southport Community Building. For $15, event-goers will receive a hand-crafted bowl to fill with the soup of their choice, bread, a bottle of water, and, of course, social time with others. Though there are no prepaid slots available, the event attracts many guests.

“The last time we held this event, it was extremely successful,” Donna Mandell, past president of the Associated Artists of Southport (AAS) and a co-chair of this Empty Bowls event, recalls. “Even though it was pouring outside all day, people still came.”

Two years ago when Mandell started planning this event, she and the event committee knew they had to emulate the same idea yet expand the number of organizations to which they donate. This year, instead of funding one specific organization, Empty Bowls is donating to three: Brunswick Family Assistance, the Food Pantry, and Matthew’s Ministry.

“I think they’re trying to cover different aspects of hunger in the county, which is wonderful,” Kristy Disbrow, founder of Matthew’s Ministry, muses.

Three years ago, Matthew’s Ministry began as a service providing food to children in local elementary schools—now a total of 11, including middle and high schools—by filling their backpacks with food at the end of every school week. According to Mandell, Matthew’s Ministry needs about $6,000 a week to go grocery shopping to feed these children and their families so they have food for the weekend.

Although this goal sounds steep, the success from the last Southport Empty Bowls event, plus Mandell’s proactive strategies for this year’s affair, will undoubtedly make 2013 another notch in the belt of past successes.

“I think it’s really exciting to raise money and see people receive a bowl,” Disbrow expresses. “It’s a visual representation of what the cause stands for.”

According to the Empty Bowls’ mission statement, “guests are asked to keep a bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world.” To produce these relics, the local potters of AAS throw pots from 1,650 pounds of donated clay from clay companies such as Highwater and Laguna. The potters vary from all skill levels—from beginner to practically professional—giving each bowl a distinct and unique finish.

Even so, it is difficult to tell who makes or glazes them since no one puts their own signature on the pieces. Every bowl is signed as “Empty Bowls,” so that it is clear that one cause is bringing several artists together to provide for the same goal.

“We don’t count how many bowls each potter makes,” Mandell reports. “It doesn’t matter if it’s one or 100. If they’re going to donate them, we say, ‘Thank you,’ and then add them to the pile.”

Once AAS has confirmed a contribution from the clay companies—they come in palettes of about 1,000 pounds—all they have to pay for are the shipping costs. Each of the 35 to 40 potters offering their craftsmanship this year will take a “sleeve” of the palette, which is 25 pounds, to make as many bowls as they can from it.

Some can make one bowl with one pound; others can make one bowl with half a pound, Mandell explains. By doing so, they try to give back as many bowls as they were given in clay.

The rest is either the artists’ personal clay or recycled from Brunswick Community College, which has been especially helpful in aiding this cause by lending their studio. Every Friday, AAS comes together for what they call “Soup-er Fridays,” where they glaze and fire the bowls already put aside for them. Of course, whoever is not glazing will be making more. If there is more clay, then there are more bowls to be made.

After the dishes are completely done, the artists make sure there are not any cracks in them, and then stack the bowls at the Franklin Square Gallery, which is where AAS is stationed. With only a month left before the event as of press, the bowls were already stacked up to the ceiling, Mandell reports.

Throughout this process the committee contacts local restaurants to donate soup, asking for at least five gallons. This year, they have 26 restaurants donating for the event. From there, they have to locate cookers to heat the large vats of soup so those attending don’t have to wait too long.

At the end of the Empty Bowls soiree, around 2:15 p.m., is when they know how successful their efforts have been—how much money they can give to the organizations. For means of advertising, a small amount is taken out of the proceeds to ensure that a majority will go to the organizations. Keep your eyes out for both the banner and the flyers being passed out in early October.

Once everyone sits down “the event turns into a bit of a social hour,” Mandell says, with music and camaraderie characterizing the four hours.