By Mackenzie Clune, For The Miami Student
Oxford Empty Bowls will hold its 12th annual luncheon Nov. 8, dedicated to hunger relief on the local community. Local potters as well as various student organizations are involved with the upcoming event, donating or painting ceramic bowls used at the luncheon.
This year, Oxford Empty Bowls will be held on Nov. 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oxford Community Arts Center.
The event is co-sponsored by the Miami University Art Department with support from the Office of Community Engagement & Service and the Office of Residence Life. Over the past 11 years, the event has raised $51,000.
The majority of bowls provided at the luncheon are donated by Miami's Art Department. According to Connie Malone, who has been a co-organizer of Oxford Empty Bowls for 11 years now, the donations from Dennis Tobin and his students are the foundation of the event.
"Last year, we donated 600 bowls," Tobin said. "This year we are hoping to donate between 500 and 600 again."
According to Malone, that contribution provides the luncheon with either the quantity or variety of bowls needed for the 600 to 700 projected guests this year.
"Mr. Tobin and his students work tirelessly on this throughout the semester, turning 25 or more bowls each," Malone said. "Hours and hours of their time and talent for which we are enormously grateful."
A student of Tobin's introduced him to the organization a few years ago, as his high school teacher in a suburb of Detroit had started the organization. Tobin has been actively involved with the organization for nearly a decade now.
"We have been working on this off and on since Sept. 15," Tobin said. "Two of my graduate students and myself started this summer."
Among the organizations participating in Oxford Empty Bowls' luncheon preparation are the Student Association of Nutrition and Directors (SAND) and the sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi (Alpha O).
Hannah Surwillo, an active member in both SAND and Alpha O, wanted to be involved in a project with a mission to help the people of Oxford.
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"My sorority, Alpha O, and I paired with 'You're Fired' and held a sisterhood event to paint and donate bowls to the Empty Bowls event," Surwillo said. "My sisters were prompted to volunteer because we all believe in giving back to our own community in numerous ways."
According to Malone, the women of Alpha O ended up painting 37 bowls for Oxford Empty Bowls- these will be part of the approximately 150 hand-decorated bowls that will be available alongside those that Tobin and his students make.
"I believe I can speak for all of us when I say that having the opportunity to spend time together while making a difference is something none of us took for granted," Surwillo said.
Surwillo also enlisted the help of SAND to help bake and donate a dozen loaves of fresh bread to the event.
According to Malone, for $10, guests choose a handmade bowl, donated by Miami University and Talawanda students and local potters. The guests then fill up their bowls with soup, donated from local cooks, and keep the empty bowls once they finish. The empty bowl is a reminder to the guests that there are always empty bowls in the world.
Each year, this event has grown in numbers and Malone predicts that Oxford Empty Bowls will host between 600 and 700 guests. The luncheon does not have its' organizational basis resting in a single entity; everyone feels welcome to help, and everyone feels welcome to attend.
"I'm proud to say that everything we have and do is donated," said Malone. "Every penny, every year, goes toward alleviating hunger and food insecurity in the Oxford community."
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