Decorah area and Luther communities team up to support local and global hunger efforts

Originally published in Inspire(d) March 2008. 2010’s  Empty Bowls project is Sunday, March 7,  from 11 am to 2 pm at Luther College’s Center for the Arts.

By Lauren Kraus

Finding spare time between psychology class and biology lab with a goal of 20 bowls, Maria humbly works toward something she believes in. She’ll get into the ceramic studio, hone in on her throwing skills and use the wheel to create bowl after bowl, hoping to reach her target number.

Maria Woo Ching, an aspiring potter since high school and a Luther College sophomore from Longmont, Colorado, candidly stated, “At the end of the day, you should use your talents to help out.” Woo Ching is an advocate for local awareness and is delighted to be a support on the local hunger front for the third annual Empty Bowls Project at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Justin Scardina, head chef at La Rana Bistro in Downtown Decorah, shares Woo Ching’s passion in backing efforts to curb world hunger. Scardina revels in community action by cooking with ingredients from the area and serving fresh food. On the day of the fundraiser, he’ll get up early to prepare – from scratch, of course – five gallons of Irish lamb stew made with meat from the Breezy Bluffs Farm in Spring Grove, Minnesota. Scardina says he’s pleased with Decorah’s energy and momentum toward this great project and is excited to be a part of it.

Ching and Scardina are only two of countless Luther and Decorah folks using their talents and time to bring the Empty Bowls Project to fruition.The participant makes a $20 donation for the handmade bowl, homemade soup and bread, and good deed. They may then decide where the money should go: local or global.

Among the local organizations receiving aid are the First Lutheran Food Pantry, Decorah Lutheran Food Closet, Winneshiek County Health, and Greater Area Food in Calmar while on the global scale, Lutheran World Relief will receive funds.

Created in 1990 by a high school art teacher in Michigan, Empty Bowls is a national project that enables communities to act locally to end the imbalance of food distribution in the world. Realizing that they wanted to be a part of something bigger, Luther pottery instructor George Lowe and former Luther professor Jack Radditz brought Empty Bowls to Decorah. Lowe had heard of a woman in Sarasota, Florida, who raised $60,000 for local food pantries through the Empty Bowls Project. Decorah’s Empty Bowls aims to be a prominent donator in local hunger efforts and a solid supporter of global efforts. 

In addition to Scardina at La Rana Bistro, several Decorah restaurants will provide soup, bakers will provide bread, and volunteers will get everyone fed. Last year, participants of Empty Bowls gobbled up 80 gallons of soup and 80 loaves of bread. The goal this year is to serve 100 gallons and 100 loaves. Visiting and local artists created 500 bowls the first year, 750 the second year and are shooting for 1000 bowls for 2008.

Generous potters like Karen Misseldine, Nate and Hallie Evans, Dawn Deines-Christensen, and Val Newman (Luther parent) collectively work with Lowe to mold clay for this year’s fundraiser. Lowe, who has been a potter for 34 years, can sculpt a bowl in 45 seconds and has even made several while being blindfolded. He says making bowls is “like a dance” for him and he continues to learn something new with each one.

Empty Bowls is truly a community event and has earned a very positive response. Folks all over are preparing their offerings for the day. A Decorah High School class is making aprons and Luther’s Harley Refsal and his January-term Scandinavian Fine Handcrafts class made silverware to debut during the event.

The Empty Bowls Project brings together a community for a meal intended to remind participants of what they have, and what others don’t. Because when it comes down to it, it’s as simple as what one Empty Bowls advocate stressed, “We can fill our bowls, but not everyone can.”

Lauren Kraus loves Decorah and the surrounding environment – the river, the trails, the bluffs, the trees, and the vibrant downtown all keep her Rocky Mountain High buzzing. A Colorado native and Luther graduate, Lauren now works for the college as an admissions counselor, trying to convince 17-year-olds that they, too, could love Decorah. 

Fact: More than 850 million people in the world go hungry
11.7 million children in the United States live in households where people have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet. That means 1 in every 10 households in the U.S. is living with hunger or is at risk of hunger.

www.bread.org

(Courtesy of Bread for the World Institute)