The 15th annual Empty Bowls fundraising event at Wittenberg brought members of the university and Springfield communities together on March 26 to raise a record-breaking amount of money to help those in the area who are experiencing hard times.
"I am very proud of the fact that, in a time of cut-backs and tough economic forecasts, the campus and Springfield community increased our giving efforts for the Second Harvest Food Bank," said Associate Professor of Art Scott Dooley, who has coordinated the popular campus event since 2000, in an e-mail to the campus community. "In particular, Catholic Social Services did an outstanding job raising funds from local sponsors. Without the hard work of Anna Plataniotis, events coordinator at Second Harvest, and the sponsorship committee, this year's effort would not have been possible."
The anniversary event raised $16,409 through sponsorships and $11,205 in bowl and T-shirt sales an increase of more than $6,000 total over last year. A total of 832 bowls, 200 more than any previous year, were sold before 7 p.m.
Kate Duman Runyon, Wittenberg class of 1996, started the Empty Bowls initiative on Wittenberg's campus in 1994, and she returned to campus for the anniversary celebration. A plaque from Second Harvest Food Bank/Catholic Charities and a Special Appreciation Certificate from Wittenberg University were presented to Runyon during the event.
Dooley recognized and thanked the many community sponsors in the e-mail and added that "almost all the bowls are made outside of class and on weekend throwing days. This represents a considerable time commitment and a high level of dedication from our student/staff/faculty potters! Peter Entorf, a local potter, was a huge help again this year. He made 150 bowls for our event."
"We had a strong crew of student, staff and community volunteers to help run the event this year," Dooley added. "Our student coordinator, Kate Stoverock (class of 2009 from Gahanna, Ohio), did a wonderful job organizing all of the details and rounding up volunteers for throwing days and the actual event. She took on an extra set of responsibilities that were required for the special events we had planned for the 15th annual celebration."
Major event sponsors included Sodexho, The Greek Orthodox Church-Ladies Philoptochos and The Union Club, and the V.I.P. sponsors include Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, Madison Avenue Pharmacy, Springfield Clark CTC Culinary Arts Program, Dr. Dana and Judy King, and Kova of Ohio.
Additional support and supplies were donated by Ambience, Eagle Beverage, Route 40 Signs, O'Charley's, Texas Road House, Schwebel Baking Company, Howard's Foods-Save-A-Lot, Donatos, Dole, GFS, Economy Linens, and Bob Evans on Leffels Lane.
A total of 115 gallons of soup were provided by Sodexho, Bob Evans Farms, Springfield Clark CTC Culinary Arts Program, Linardos Villa and Anna Plataniotis, Mics Italian Restaurant and Los Mariachis.
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