By: Amanda Bowman

I bent over the table, beginning to knead and soften the reddish-brown lump of clay in my hands. Smoothing cracks and banishing air bubbles, I prepared it to take shape. After securing it to the wheel, I nervously began the process of forming, molding, creating. I moistened the clay, my hands gently but firmly telling it where to go, what to become. Silently praying, I asked God to make me like clay in his hands and to soften my heart to the needs of people around me.

See, this simple clay bowl on my wheel is not for me. No – it’s for the woman with four kids who deals drugs to provide for them. It’s for the man walking the streets until he’s allowed to return to the homeless shelter at night. It’s for the teenage girl staying on a different couch every two weeks. Even in Warsaw, this is a reality.

Grace’s Art Integrations course looks different every year and gives students an opportunity to get real world experience by using their artistic talents to better the community. This year, we are learning the process of handcrafting professional ceramic bowls in order to put on an Empty Bowls event. The idea behind Empty Bwols is simple – we host a lunch of soup and bread for the community, inviting them as guests to come, donate, eat and take an empty bowl as a reminder of those going hungry. Since everything is financed through donations, all the proceeds will be donated to local food pantries in Kosciusko County.

So please come! Give what you can and receive lunch and a beautiful bowl, along with the opportunity to help the poor in our community, what could be more worthwhile?

Empty Bowls is happening from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at the Village of Winona Pavilion in Winona Lake. Suggested donation is $20 for adults and $5 for kids, but any donation is appreciated.

For more info, contact Cindy Bryan at [email protected].

If you cannot attend the event on May 3 but still would like to donate to the cause and receive a bowl, you can do so at the Latte Lounge. Tickets will also be sold ahead of time at The Bungalow and The Village Mercantile in the Boat House in the Village of Winona, and the Latte Lounge and Combined Community Services in Warsaw.