“Empty Bowls” Raises Money to Fill Cupboards in Seekonk

Jacqueline “Jackie” Glum was inspired to develop an “Empty Bowls” project with her elementary school students to help connect them to the community and foster a culture of service and caring. She made it creative, kid-friendly, and fun, but, as with all “Empty Bowl” events, the goal was to help fight hunger.

Jackie obtained a grant from the Seekonk Cultural Council to purchase the clay and glaze used to make the bowls, and then involved students from grades K-5 in fashioning the clay into bowls. After the clay was kiln-dried, the students painted the bowls – and each bowl was as distinctive as the student who created it. Then the Aitken PTO hosted a family event where the bowl were sold as a fundraiser for the Doorways food pantry.

The event itself - “IceCreamapalooza II” – was a festival of fun, music and ice cream. Local student-musicians from the School of Rock provided live entertainment, and dozens of gallons of ice cream was donated by the Outback Steak House in town. “Celebrity scoopers” doled out generous portions of ice cream – the scoopers represented the police department, the fire department, the library, the school system, the town government, and the food pantry. A wonderful time was had by all - and the event grossed over $2,000.00, which surpassed last year’s considerable success. Said Diane Fox of Doorways, “There will be a lot fewer empty bowls in town because of the work of those students – and their teacher.”

Empty Bowls supports food-related charitable organizations around the world, and has raised millions of dollars to help end hunger. Doorways is grateful to Ms. Glum, the Seekonk Council for the Arts, Outback Steak House, and the students, faculty, staff and families of Aitken School for their support.