Today’s world is plagued by a constant stream of problems. When the government isn’t focusing on our financial and economic crisis, the subject of global warming and rising oil prices are being discussed instead. And while these are all very important, the issue of hunger continues to take a backseat to the other problems currently plaguing our country. With one in eight Americans struggling with food insecurity each day, the issue of domestic hunger is rising at an alarming rate. Orono Schools are taking a step in the right direction to help lower this statistic and pull our community together to put  an end to this issue.On Apr. 12, the annual Empty Bowls event will be back for its eighth consecutive year to fight against the rising issue of hunger. “Empty Bowls helps people feel like they are a part of a life changing event,” said senior Amanda Brooks. The Empty Bowls Project didn’t begin in the Orono School District. It is an international organization that was created by The Imagine Render Group, and was designed to bring communities together to end hunger and food insecurity.The Imagine Render Group encourages communities across the nation to participate and host Empty Bowl events. Emptybowls.net instructs that each individual or group organizing an event should design it around the needs of their own community. Orono Schools first became involved in the Empty Bowls Project through the OHS art teacher Jayne Hudgins. “I suggested it to the other teachers in 2001, as I had heard about it when I was a student at the ‘U’. It took several years to get everyone on board,” said Hudgins. Now, every school in the Orono District participates, and several students from each school create bowls for the event. “I have made bowls every year. This year I made three bowls and will be working the event,” said senior Rachel Micoley. Tickets for the event are $10. Each ticket covers the cost of dinner, entertainment and a bowl to take home. Local businesses are supporting the event, with Lunds Grocery having donated soup, Harvest Moon donated fresh bread and Caribou Coffee donated coffee. This year, Orono High School’s Tri-M will be the provider of entertainment. Participants then get to chose a bowl to take home as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. In the eight years that the Empty Bowls event has taken place, over $30,000 has been raised to benefit the local food shelves Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners and the Maple Plain food shelf. The money goes a long way to help alleviate the hunger in the surrounding Orono community. “Our food shelves can multiply money contributions much further than donations can due to their bulk buying power. A $1 donation equals about $8 in food,” said Hudgins. Hunger isn’t a problem that can be tackled overnight. It’s even harder to combat this issue when so many people don’t know that it even exists. However, with the time and effort shown by the diligent members devoted to the cause, we can bring awareness to this issue and take the necessary steps to putting an end to food insecurity in our community, and hopefully, on a much broader scale as well. “Empty Bowls makes Orono students think about how lucky they are and how there are families that need their help,” said senior Alex Thies. “What they take away from this event and others like it, is that the smallest things can go a long way.” Taylor Werdel is the Editorial Editor for The Spartan Speaks Newspaper