Contact:

Beth Burnsed

First Presbyterian Day School

Director of Communications

478.477.6505 x121

beth.burnsed@fpdmacon.org 

Empty Bowls Feed Plenty

First Presbyterian Day School Students Combine Athletics, Art and Outreach

January 27, 2014 – Call them what you like – beautiful pieces of pottery, dinnerware, or acts of kindness – but the bowls designed and created by First Presbyterian Day School’s art students are creative works that serve hundreds.

In early January, FPD’s fifth grade through twelfth grade art students designed, crafted, and sculpted over 250 bowls as part of Empty Bowls, a community service project that combines art with outreach.

After being glazed and fired, the creations are ready to be filled. That is where FPD’s dedicated parent volunteers join in. This year, over eighteen parents offered to chop, dice, mix and simmer to create a variety of delicious soups and stews. Another eighteen baked accompanying bread and crackers. The handcrafted bowls will be paired with these homemade dishes and sold at a FPD home basketball on January 31. All money raised benefits Macon Outreach.

“We are thrilled to join the Empty Bowls project,” said Nancy Butler, High School Art Teacher. “It’s creative, it’s fun, and it’s a wonderful way to give back. Last year the project raised $1300.”

FPD’s Community Service Coordinator, Holly Scott agrees. “It is rare that a project comes along that combines multiple school programs and parent involvement,” says Scott. “Empty Bowls does that. The artwork is amazing and it’s a great way to raise awareness about hunger in our country and in our community.”

FPD’s Empty Bowls project, now in its third year, is part of a national program.  Created by the Image Render Group, the Empty Bowls program began as a grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. The mission has been picked up and carried by schools and community organizations across the world.

The public is welcome to attend FPD’s home basketball games on January 31 not only to see the Vikings in action but also to purchase one of these handcrafted bowls and delicious soup.

For more information about Empty Bowls visit www.emptybowls.org. For more information about First Presbyterian Day School visit www.www.fpdmacon.org.