Des Plaines, Ill. (Nov. 20, 2023) – Celebrate 20 years of the Oakton College Empty Bowls event, which has raised nearly $400,000 for local food pantries since 2004. Buy handcrafted ceramics, which make excellent “gifts that give back” while raising awareness for local and worldwide hunger.
This year’s Empty Bowls event will take place Saturday, Dec. 2, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Oakton’s Des Plaines campus, 1600 E. Golf Road, in rooms 1606-1610. Over 1,200 handcrafted soup bowls and other ceramic artwork will be available for purchase.
Admission is free, but for a donation of just $20, participants are invited to choose and keep their favorite artwork made by local professional and student potters, listen to live music and enjoy a bowl of soup with a piece of bread, similar to meals served at soup kitchens. Larger and unique art pieces will also be available at bargain prices, with all proceeds going to local food pantries.
Attendees can purchase “Empty Bowls at Oakton” T-shirts ($20) and participate in a raffle of handmade art items. Raffle tickets are for sale at the event (one for $5 or six for $20). In addition, the Windy City Woodturners will host a silent auction with wood bowls and other items.
Sponsored by Oakton’s Ceramics Club, Empty Bowls is part of a nonprofit, global movement that has raised awareness for local and worldwide hunger and millions of dollars for food banks, soup kitchens and other meal programs. One hundred percent of event proceeds will support the following organizations: Des Plaines Self-Help Closet and Pantry, Interfaith Action of Evanston, Maine Township Food Pantry, New Trier Township Food Pantry, Niles Township Food Pantry and Northfield Township Food Pantry.
The Central Road entrance will be closed on Dec. 2 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. for the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration to allow for the equestrian riders' pilgrimage. Please use the Golf Road to enter the campus. For more information about the Empty Bowls event, contact emptybowls@oakton.edu or call 847.635.1699.