STUDENTS PLAN ‘EMPTY BOWL’ BENEFIT

BusinessNorth.com
March 6 2009

ASHLAND, Wis.- The 2009 Empty Bowl Dinner, sponsored by the Northland
College Ceramics Program and organized by the Moonbeam Consortium and
Art League, will be hosted at St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Saturday,
March 14 beginning at 4 p.m. This year, admission will be $15 or $10
with a non-perishable food item. The cost covers bread and a hearty
soup served in a unique, hand-made bowl that can be taken home at the
end of the evening. All the bowls at the event will have 100% lead-free
glazes and will be safe to use in dishwashers and microwaves. Funds
and food raised by the event will go to local food pantries.

Over the past several years Northland’s Empty Bowl events have raised
a combined total of over $10,000 for the hungry both locally and
globally. In previous years the fee was simply $10, but organizers are
hoping that the patron’s generosity will match their own ambitions to
raise more than $3,000 in addition to the non-perishables for charity.

"This is exemplary of the spirit of volunteerism and social conviction
that the Northland students feel towards the Ashland community,"
says Associate Professor of Art Viken Peltekian. "I’d particularly
like to thank the students who have made and donated the bowls, the
Daily Bread for their generosity and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
for being such a gracious host for this worthwhile event."

Following the success of the 2008 dinner, this year’s event will again
feature a silent auction of ceramic pieces such as serving bowls and
vases as well as works of art in other media, the proceeds of which
will go to the same charities. Northland students will also perform
live bluegrass and marimba music and a speaker will talk about the
local hungry and effective ways to help them.

"Empty Bowl is a great event because it is organized by Northland
College students, but encompasses the community," says Sarah Bhimani,
a writing major at Northland who is focused on soup production
for the event. "We rely on local business generosity in order to
buy ingredients; student time in making bowls, soup, and bread;
local artist skills for the silent auction; and local musicians
for entertainment. The event becomes much more about the people and
community that we are helping, which is the whole point."

Northland College and its Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute are
located in Ashland, Wis., near the shores of Lake Superior. The
College has been recognized as one of the top colleges in the nation
for science and mathematics, as a model environmental campus for
the Lake Superior Basin, and as one of Wisconsin’s true liberal arts
colleges. Founded in 1892, Northland now enrolls 700 students from
41 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Kenya,
Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago. For more information about Northland
College and its Institute, visit our website at