The tenth annual Empty Bowl Fundraiser took place on Sunday, April 22 in Old Chapel. The Empty Bowl Project of Schenectady is a student- run initiative to combat hunger in the Schenectady area. Proceeds from the fundraiser are distributed equally to Concerned for the Hungry, the City Mission and Bethesda House. All of these are local charities that run food assistance programs such as soup kitchens and food pantries in Schenectady.
“They do great work around Schenectady helping feed those who need assistance, and they run lots of great other programs. Supporting them and any local organizations that fight hunger is a great cause and worth it,” co-chair of the Empty Bowl Project of Schenectady Ian Koon ’18 said. According to Sienna College’s Community Policy Institute, 32 out of 62 counties in the state of New York have food deserts in them, meaning that there is limited access to grocery stores for people who live in those regions.
This makes finding affordable and healthy food difficult and contributes to a state of food insecurity, or not having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable and healthy food. Food deserts are much more common in cities; 86% of food deserts in the state of New York are in urban areas.
Nine census tracts, or relatively permanent subdivisions of a county, in Schenectady County ar classified as a food deserts.
It is estimated that 12.50% of people in the Schenectady area suffer from food insecurity.
The Empty Bowl Project is a nationwide project that seeks to both raise awareness of hunger and combat it.
“Any city can start their own empty bowls project and pretty much every city has their own… it’s grassroots in the sense that every city can start their own and it’s run differently, but it’s the same in that every project involves bringing empty bowls to represent the fact that people are hungry,” Koon said.
“It’s always a wonderful event and I think it’s good that the college puts on something that supports people in need,” Schenectady Councilwoman Marion Porterfield said. Porterfield has attended multiple Empty Bowl Project Events throughout the years. In the past, Empty Bowl Projects have raised about $4,000 a year.
Tickets were sold at the door and cost $10.00 for students and $20.00 for the general
public.
People who bought tickets were able to get handmade pottery and were served food at the event. While in the past, bowls were made by Union students this students bowls at Mont Pleasant Middle School in Schenectady created them.
“I think it’s great that now they’re involving even younger people in the project,” Porterfield said.
In addition to Koon, cochair Mikaela Buryj, ’20 organized the event. The Empty Bowl project was also helped by Kenney Community Center Director Angela Tatem and volunteers from Sigma Phi and Hillel.
“[We] have really good leadership. Mikaela is going to do a good job running the project next year,” Koon said.
Food was donated to the event by Chabad, Our Daily Bread, Hudson Valley Hand- Cut Scones, Bombers Burrito Bar, Campus Kitchens and Union Dining services.
Donations were given to the Empty Bowl Project by other local companies and restaurants as well. Most of the turnout for the event were members of the community, as opposed to college students.
There was a raffle and performance by the Eliphalets, the Dutch Pipers, the Garnet Minstrelles and the Ukuladies in addition to the food and bowls. In addition to the event on Sunday, the Empty Bowl Planning Committee will be hosting a bake sale in the near future in Reamer.
Chabad will donate challah bread to the group, which will be sold and proceeds will again be distributed among Concerned for the Hungry, the City Mission and Bethesda House.