Students from all schools in the district work for months before the Empty Bowls event in their art classes preparing their own bowls for donation to the event. Being a district wide fundraiser, the art teachers from each school at Orono have their students exert their best effort to make a bowl that will go up for sale at the Empty Bowls event to help raise money.

This is Orono’s fifteenth annual empty bowls event, each year experiencing more and more success. This year the event will take place on Thursday, April 6 in the OHS Cafeteria from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The bowls made by the students and faculty will be available for anyone who purchases a ticket to the event that night to choose from.

It costs $10 to get into the event. With this price you get a choice between many different delicious soups made by various restaurants around the area including Blackwater, Country Cake Cupboard, Harvest Moon, Birches and McGary’s. Along with soup, you also get to pick out one glazed bowl to take home.

New this year, high school art teacher Jayne Hudgens premade porcelain bowls that will be at the event available for anyone to paint and take home for a small fee. These bowls can hold anything and are dishwasher safe. If you want to feel like an artist for a day, and create your own masterpiece this is the perfect opportunity for the young and old to call on their inner artist.

The proceeds from this event go towards the local food shelves in our area; 50 percent go to IOCP and 50 percent go to the Maple Plain Food Shelf. The goal being to help out families that are struggling in our own community. Many of these food shelves we donate to count on this event as their biggest donation of the year, so it is important there is an impressive turnout. At last year’s event enough money was raised to buy $45,000 worth of food.

After enjoying spring break next week, students and their parents should all try and make it to this wonderful event supporting people in our own community.