Imagine walking into the Westford Academy Cafeteria and the whole place is completely transformed; live music is playing, delicious soup is being served, and presentations are occurring. All of these things will be happening at the Empty Bowls event, hosted by the National Honors Society (NHS), on Thursday, March 12.
Empty Bowls is a national organization that holds events all over the world. According to the official Empty Bowls website, the establishment’s non-profit’s main purpose is to raise funds for food charities within one’s community. The organization was created in 1990 by John Hartom, an art teacher at Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Hartom convinced his students to participate at a local food drive where he would have the kids craft handmade bowls and invite the faculty for a soup lunch with the goal of obtaining as many donations as possible.
The event is open to all, whether that be students, parents, relatives, or siblings. They will pay to enter, with tickets costing $5. After paying, people will pick a bowl created by the NHS students, each bowl containing a raffle ticket that contributors can fill out in order to get the chance to win a prize.
There are three main goals for the event that NHS is trying to achieve this year. They want to spread information on what service opportunities are available in town through presentations, as well as raise funds for two different groups. All earnings and profits will either be going towards raising funds for NHS scholarships or contributing to the Westford Food Pantry, which is hosted by the Cameron Senior Center.
According to NHS advisor Gilbert Fuhr, participants most commonly pre-order the soup, but there is still a wide variety of options for those who did not. Soup options include minestrone, creamy corn chowder, and chicken tory rally.
“A lot of people will come and [then] take the soup home, and they would probably take it to school or eat it for lunch the next day, so not everyone eats the soup at the event,” Fuhr said.
Musical groups from WA will be performing throughout the course of the charity dinner. Presentations, each about two-to-four minutes long, will be held in the middle of the evening. According to Fuhr, presentations will be given by students as they talk about their service accomplishments that they have achieved throughout their previous years, providing younger audiences such as middle school students or underclassmen the chance to learn about different service opportunities.
“I think the service that the kids do is just as special as the clubs they are a part of, the grades they receive, and the sports that they play. The service is a special part about being a student here in Westford,” Fuhr said.
So far, over 100 soups have been sold and, according to Fuhr, they have estimated that around 80 people will attend the event with half of the guests being NHS members.
“I would really hope for the kids to be able to present more and share what they did,” Fuhr said. “I would love for more middle school kids to learn about the special services the WA kids do.