Empty Bowls will benefit 4-H Teen Club’s Backpack Program

The 4-H Teen Club is partnering with The Studio to host an inaugural event to help feed hundreds of Muhlenberg County children, and offer local groups and artists a unique way to give.

County 4-H coordinator Mackenzie Pogue and local potter at The Studio, April Jernigan, are bringing an international hunger project, called Empty Bowls, to the community in October. They plan on making it an annual event.

Empty Bowls was created in the early 1990s by an art teacher in Michigan, as a way for artists and students to make a difference in their community. The concept has spread, and while each Empty Bowls event is independently created and organized, the result is the same – to create bowls as a fundraiser for food related charities around the world.

Participating artists are busy creating bowls for the local Empty Bowls event, which will be held on Oct. 16 to coincide with World Hunger Day. Jernigan, at The Studio in Central City, is holding workshops for individuals and groups to paint, throw and hand build bowls for the event.

The price to create bowls for the October event is $22 for two bowls, and at least one bowl must be donated to Empty Bowls. For bowls made and donated through The Studio, Jernigan will donate an additional $2 to the project. Then on Oct. 16, a simple meal will be served at the Central City Convention Center and ticket holders can select a handmade bowl at the event.

Jernigan said she’s already hosted several groups at The Studio to create bowls, including a few from local churches. “You can come to The Studio and paint bowls. You can also do a little throwing session and donate those,” Jernigan said. She will also be offering hand-building classes to make bowls for the project.

Artists, crafters and anyone who would like to try their hand at creating a bowl for the project can give it a try on July 19, between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the UK Extension Office, at 3690 State Route 1380. Participants can paint a ready-made ceramic bowl, or hand-build one from clay.

Proceeds from the event will help to pay for the 4-H Teen Club’s Backpack Program. The popular program sends a backpack full of kid-friendly food items home from school each week with hundreds of qualifying children in the county’s schools. With their usual fundraisers getting canceled for the past year or more, Pogue is looking for new ways to raise the money needed to keep sending home food.

“We didn’t have all the support that we’ve had over the years because of covid,” Pogue said. “So we didn’t raise the money needed to be able to 100% fund the whole year.”

The backpack program is funded through the community, and Pogue said this year they hope to raise more than $43,000 to feed approximately 360 children throughout the school year. It costs about $3 per bag, and they are provided for 41 weeks, and $120 can sponsor one child for the entire year, Pogue said.

For more information about Empty Bowls, the 4-H Teen Club’s Backpack Program, and opportunities to create bowls for the event, contact Mackenzie Pogue at the UK Extension Office at 270-338-3124.