On January 27th, Rancho Santa Fe’s R. Roger Rowe School will hold its Empty Bowls dinner and fundraiser from 6 to 7:30 p.m in the Performing Arts Center. The event is part of the school’s Kind to the Core Week, which celebrates the school’s student community service program.
The event will be put on to raise awareness and fundraise for hunger and features beautiful ceramic bowls crafted by students and a simple soup dinner. Anyone interested can purchase a $25 ticket, which will include one of the student-created bowls and dinner and dessert from local restaurants.
All proceeds are going to the San Diego Food Bank. The Food Bank distributes food directly to families and individuals in need at 183 distribution sites throughout the country every month. It also provides food to 350 nonprofits that operate feeding programs, including soup kitchens, shelters, churches, schools, senior and disabled living facilities, and food pantries.
Empty Bowls is supported by local businesses, including Ki’s Restaurant, who is donating the soup, and Caffe Positano, who is donating coffee, and Pacific Coast Grill, who is donating the bread pudding dessert.
Rancho Santa Fe’s art teacher Marika Fagan expressed her excitement. “It shows how art can impact the world in a real, positive way,” Fagan said. “The cool thing to me is that the students know when they’re making these bowls that there’s no ownership. They’re very aware that the bowls are not theirs to take home, they’re really making a project to give back to people who are less fortunate than they are.”
Fagan believes R. Roger Rowe is the first middle school in the county to take on the project.
Four middle school art classes took part in the project. Last week, the students worked on glazing the bowls and making tissue-paper flowers for dinner centerpieces. They completed about 100 bowls.
This will be the second year that Empty Bowls will be taking place, although due to the Rancho Bernardo Fire, the event was canceled last year. Fortunately, the event still raised $2,750.
This years event will support the more than 462,000 people in San Diego who live at the poverty level and go to bed hungry almost every night. For tickets, e-mail mfagan(at)rsf(dotted)k12(dotted)ca(dotted)us or call 858.770.2970, ext. 405.