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  • Betty Phillips of the Goldridge Community examines a bowl after enjoying a bowl of Bobby Nolen's famous gourmet chili Monday evening during the ninth annual Empty Bowls of Cullman fundraiser for Cullman Caring for Kids Food Bank. Amanda Shavers-Davis

    Empty bowls

  • Alex Wood, 7, shows dad Zac something during Monday evening's ninth annual Empty Bowls of Cullman fundraiser for Cullman Caring for Kids Food Bank. Alex's brother Wilson, 6, is seen at right. His twin Nicholas and sister Olivia, 9, also attended. Amanda Shavers-Davis

    Empty bowls

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February 21, 2012

Annual Empty Bowls event raises funds for Cullman Caring for Kids food bank

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — An estimated 700 people showed their support in combating local hunger by turning out for the ninth annual Empty Bowls dinner and auction Monday evening at Cullman’s First United Methodist Church.

An event that coordinates the efforts of dozens of charitable organizations, churches and individuals, Empty Bowls primarily raises funds through ticket sales, which entitle the bearer to a bowl of chili, fellowship and entertainment.

And, participants get to keep the bowls — handmade pieces crafted by a small, well-organized cadre of potters who work throughout the year to prepare nearly a thousand of the keepsakes, each a reminder that doing good is a gift that stays with you.

Lynn Jetton, who helps organize the small committee of local artists who produce all the clay bowls for each year’s event, said she fell into the work after taking pottery classes at Wallace State Community College in 2005.

“I was taking pottery back in 2005 at Wallace State, and before I thought I was able to make a bowl, the [former] head of the art department down there saw what I was doing and said, ‘Oh yeah — you can make bowls.’ So now that’s what I do — I make bowls,” she joked. “We try to make 800 a year. There are a lot of people involved in it, and it’s been successful every year.”

All proceeds collected by Empty Bowls benefit the Cullman Caring for Kids food bank, which has raised $67,000 from the event since it began locally in 2003.

Like so many of the annual community events that have brought people together since last April’s ravaging tornadoes, this year’s Empty Bowls event seemed to bear just a little more significance than in years past — a celebration of what communities can do when they’re galvanized by adversity.

“This is a new feature this year — for our community to come together after the destruction in April, and to celebrate God’s protection; that there were no lives lost here,” said Empty Bowls coordinator Tanya Shearer.

“I think a lot of people have really been brought closer by that, and we are all finding ways to come together to show our support for our community, even with all of the damage and with what was lost. So many people work together to make it possible; it’s a community-wide event and it truly involves a lot of cooperation. We expect a very, very good year this year.”

Cullman Caring for Kids assistant director Nancy Bryant said it will be a few days before the agency has a final fundraising tally from Monday’s dinner, but, looking around a room crowded with guests and volunteers, she found it easy to describe this year’s event as a success.

 “It’s very much growing — it just gets better and better every year,” she said. “This is a community meeting, really; a gathering. All these people, they’ll be in and out all night. We love it.”



* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 270.

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