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Empty Bowls to serve up art, soup and charity

JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times The final line of the poem "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver appears on a planter made by Marietta potter Melissa Rohrer, and will appear in the Empty Bowls Luncheon silent auction on March 30.

For the 19th year, local community members will not only gather in a fundraiser for food pantries in the Mid-Ohio Valley over a creative meal but take home their soup bowls, too.

The Empty Bowls MOV Luncheon will take place at the First United Methodist Church in Williamstown March 30, offering attendees donated soup from local restaurants, bread, cookies and a bowl to remember the cause when they leave.

“This is a wonderful community,” said Mabry O’Donnell, of Marietta, a volunteer with the fundraiser. “But unfortunately we have many who go hungry and are in need. What a creative way we have here to get the funds to help them eat.”

For $12 a bowl, an attendee can share in the camaraderie of the fundraiser, and support the cause.

As she sanded the bottoms of freshly-made bowls Thursday, Melissa Rohrer, a potter in Marietta, said she has donated bowls to the event for many years.

JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times In her basement Thursday, Marietta potter Melissa Rohrer sands the bottoms of bowls she is donating to the Empty Bowls Luncheon, a fundraiser taking place March 30.

“I just like the idea and the creativity added to it,” she said in her basement workshop.

Fifteen of her bowls will be up for grabs as attendees make it down the two lines of soup offered at the church the day of the event, along with bowl and plate pairings to be entered into the fundraiser’s silent auction.

“Melissa’s work can be described as delicious,” said O’Donnell. “And really all of the people who make bowls and donate them create some ownership of the need in our area.”

O’Donnell said the fundraiser first caught her interest many years ago when founder Caroline Putnam asked her to donate to the program.

“Because of my professional responsibilities, I was unable to attend the event, but each year I sent a check, and each year Caroline would choose a bowl and deliver it to me,” said O’Donnell. “Once I had a bit more time, I started volunteering which has provided a fulfilling and enriching community experience.”

And for the last five years, she said, she’s watched volunteers work behind the scenes to come together on the cause of stopping hunger not only in Washington County but across the valley.

“The event has been held at many churches over the years because it’s a community problem, not just one area,” she explained, noting past venues at the First Congregational Church, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church and Unitarian Universalist Society in Marietta. “And we gather volunteers from both of the colleges, and people donate through different art events as well.”

Approximately 400 handcrafted and painted ceramic bowls will be up for grabs on March 30, like the 20 pieces donated by Rohrer, coming from area schools and even through the public, with painting taking place at The Pottery Place in the Grand Central Mall in Vienna through this weekend.

“As an extra bonus, each person who donates at least $12 will receive a unique bowl made by a student or artist in the area,” said O’Donnell.

If you go:

• What: Empty Bowls Luncheon.

• When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 30.

• Where: First United Methodist Church, 304 West Fifth St., Williamstown.

• Who: Local schools and artisans donate 400 handcrafted and painted ceramic bowls.

• How to help:

• Attend:

• Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, cost includes both the lunch and your choice of a bowl.

• All proceeds go to local food pantries.

• Give a bowl:

• The Pottery Place at Grand Central Mall will allow sponsorships of donation bowls and/or painting of bowls at the store for $10 per two bowls.

• The studio’s goal is to paint and donate 170 bowls by Sunday.

• For more information stop into the studio in Vienna or call 304-422-8777.

Source: Empty Bowls of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

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