NEWS RELEASE

News Bureau . Schofield Hall 201 . Eau Claire, WI 54702
phone: (715) 836-4741
fax: (715) 836-2900

EAU CLAIRE - Ceramics students from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire art department are pitching in to help fight hunger in the Chippewa Valley. Under the direction of associate professor of art Michael Weber, students are once again donating 200 handmade ceramic bowls to the Feed My People Food Bank for their upcoming "Empty Bowls" fundraiser. Seniors Matthew Carlson, New Auburn, and Dawn Carey, Tomahawk, are coordinating production of the bowls at UW-Eau Claire.

"Empty Bowls" is a fundraising supper of soup, specialty breads and desserts scheduled for 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1314 E. Lexington, Eau Claire. The Bread Box, Great Harvest Bread Co., area churches and volunteers are donating the meal. Ticket prices are $20 for supper and a hand-designed bowl, $8 for the supper alone and $5 for children 12 and younger.

Ceramics students also will present an exhibit titled "Clay for a Cause" April 15-28 at the State Regional Arts Center Backdoor Gallery in Eau Claire. A portion of the proceeds from exhibition sales also will go to benefit Feed My People. A meet-the-artists reception is set for 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, at the Backdoor Gallery. Soup bowls for the Friday "Empty Bowls" event can be pre-selected at the Wednesday artists' reception.

Feed My People Food Bank, a food distribution center that supplies much needed food to area food pantries and charitable organizations, serves approximately 4,000 low-income people in West-Central Wisconsin each month.

Besides raising money for Feed My People at the spring "Empty Bowls" event, UW-Eau Claire students also sponsor Hunger Awareness Week on campus each fall to raise money to fight hunger.

Last year's "Empty Bowls" event sold out in advance. Tickets are available from Feed My People Food Bank, 715-835-9415.

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Judy Berthiaume, Director
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu

Updated: April 3, 2003