By Elizabeth Birkner
Oak Hall School offers many clubs for students to join when they reach the Middle and Upper School. Many of the clubs are formed to help the less fortunate and do good deeds for our community. One such club is the Empty Bowls Ceramics Club. This club’s purpose is to help the hungry by making ceramic bowls which are then sold by the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank. The money raised by the selling of the bowls goes back into stocking the pantries at the food bank. While the club is geared toward students with ceramic skills but welcome any student to join and help.
Last year, the club flourished after not being a program at Oak Hall for some time. Club president Benjamin Leber was thrilled and ready to begin the program again with art teacher Becky Lancer. “Last year was the first year our club resumed meeting post-pandemic due to the constraints of the pandemic. Our club made and contributed [more than] 150 bowls last year that were donated to the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank,” the junior said. “The Empty Bowls program is a community-driven effort aimed at raising awareness about and combating hunger and food insecurity in our local area and beyond,” he continued.
In September, Leber and Lancer attended a fundraiser hosted by the food bank, where around 130 bowls made by Oak Hall students were donated, exceeding the club goal of 75 bowls. According to the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank’s website, “The bowl is a stark reminder that many in our community face an empty bowl on a daily basis.”
“The Empty Bowls Program is a meaningful way for individuals to get involved, make a tangible contribution to our community, and raise awareness about a pressing social issue hunger. It is heartwarming to see the artistic talent at Oak Hall School come together to tackle a problem that affects so many,” Leber said. Students can get involved is by attending the club’s meetings and bowl creating after school on Tuesdays and during SOAR on Wednesdays.
Some goals of the club this year is to get other Oak Hall clubs involved in their mission, run a summer camp to create bowls, and to volunteer at the food bank when possible.
