From the nationally crafted art pieces that symbolize hunger to the more than 1,000 bowls donated by the Wichita Falls community and to raise awareness for food insecurity in the community, the sixth annual Empty Bowls took place Oct. 10 at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art.
Tanya Gillen, Empty Bowls chair, said the engagement, support and donations for the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank from the “great crowd” encourages her every year.
“It takes a village to raise up the community, and this is a really important event that’s unique and accomplishes that. There’s nothing like it,” Gillen said. “I came the first year after I bought a ticket, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it, and I’ve been on the committee ever since.”
Like Gillen, Monica Wilkinson, Empty Bowls and Wichita Falls Area Food Bank chair, said it only took one visit to the event to spark her desire to help out. Along side the committee member’s efforts, students and community members go to the Fain Fine Arts art department and make bowls to donate for the event, and volunteers help run the event start to finish.
“With any event, volunteers are integral to have success,” Wilkinson said. “People really enjoy the event and enjoy helping out, and it gives the restaurants that sponsor the event exposure. “
The bowls represent the idea that some people might not have anything to put in their bowl at night, so those who bought a ticket were able to pick out a bowl to take home to think about those less fortunate in the community. All the money raised goes to the food bank for education programs. Tickets were $40 a piece, and in past years Gillen said most of the money is collected from donations.
Past events have raised between $65,000-$85,000, and while the final count for the event isn’t available yet, according to Mary Helen Maskill, community engagement manager of the WFMA, this year was “really successful and we feel like there were more people here this year.”
More than anything, Gillen said this event is meant to raise awareness for a significant portion of the community. According to the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank, one in six area residents are food insecure, and that is the central focus of the event.
“Everybody thinks differently about hunger, and that is reflected in all the different pieces,” Gillen said. “I hope the community understands that the person next to you can be food insecure. We worked together even when thing didn’t go our way we stuck together as a team.”
Empty Bowls 1 from Bradley Wilson on Vimeo.
Empty Bowls 2 from Bradley Wilson on Vimeo.
Empty Bowls 3 from Bradley Wilson on Vimeo.