Empty Bowls prepares for annual luncheon, marked by leadership changes

After hosting its highest-grossing fundraising event in its history last year, Oxford Empty Bowls is gearing up for this year's event with new leadership, allowing a new generation to take the lead.

Oxford Empty Bowls event started in 2002 as an event to raise awareness about food insecurity and raise money for local organizations fighting hunger. This year’s event will take place on Nov. 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oxford Community Arts Center. Attendees can choose from hundreds of bowls, make a $15 donation per bowl and select from a variety of lunch options, all donated by community members and businesses.

Over its 22-year history, the event has raised more than $150,000 for local agencies and programs fighting food insecurity. Last year, it broke records, raising $16,000, most of which went to the Talawanda Oxford Pantry and Social Services.

Kourtney Spaulding, who became organizing chair this year, first got involved with Empty Bowls three years ago and has taken over from former chair Connie Malone, who has led the event since its inception. 

“I was brought on in an effort to have some fresh faces, a newer generation of those looking to serve in the community, as folks who had been on the committee for literal decades were looking to retire from their time with us or put efforts into new endeavors in the community,” Spaulding wrote in an email to the Oxford Free Press.

This year, the planning committee welcomed new members, including Emily Cluen and Laura Birkenhauer, after two retired following last year’s events. Cluen oversees volunteering, and Birkenhauer runs communications.

Rob Abowitz, member of the planning committee and associate director of residence life at Miami University, said the transition from Malone to Spaulding has been smooth.

“There are some organizations where it’s only about [one] person, and when that person leaves … the event or the organization goes away,” Abowitz said. “Empty Bowls, we’ve proven, is one that’s sustained by having a good succession of leaders.”

Abowitz oversees the annual bowl-a-thon, where he, local art students and community members come together to make 250 bowls for the event. Lana Traum, a senior art major at Miami and president of the ceramics clubs, made the most this year, throwing 60 bowls in one day.

“For me in particular, it’s a way of turning a pastime, the pottery I do, into a community service,” Abowitz said. “Not everyone can say that about their hobbies.”

The committee applied for and received a grant from Butler Rural Electric Community Connections Foundation, covering the $1,400 total cost of clay and glaze materials for the bowl-a-thon.

For this year’s event, the committee plans to provide aprons for all the volunteers to portray a unified look. For sanitary reasons, they also plan to give attendees compostable bowls alongside the ceramic bowls sold to them.

Spaulding said the event’s atmosphere is always positive, recalling the event in 2022, rebounding off of the COVID-19 shutdowns. People waited in the snow, happy to have the event in person again.

“I love organizing and being able to see the impact that the funding makes in the community is just wonderful,” Spaulding wrote. “Organizing the event this year, I'm meeting so many new people and everyone always has a story about why they love the event.”