Lori M. Zentz

Every year, students and adults from northern Frederick County gather around a cafeteria table in the middle of winter for a simple dinner of soup, bottled water and dessert. Their empty stomachs at the end of the meal and the optional handmade bowl in which their dinner was served are all part of an effort to increase awareness for world hunger while promoting art appreciation and raising money for charitable causes.

The "Empty Bowls" banquet held at Catoctin High School (CHS) not only seeks to shed light on world hunger, but strives to bring together the Catoctin community for an evening of arts and music while recognizing charitable service and giving. The banquet raised over $800 last year for the Catoctin Area CASS (Community Agency School Service), a community-based interagency program that provides services to needy families in northern Frederick County. The program also recognizes Catoctin student volunteers who have made a difference in their community.

This year’s program will be held on Thursday, February 22 at Catoctin High School. The Empty Bowls banquet begins at 5:00 p.m. Tickets to this charity event are $5 if you would like to receive a commemorative, handcrafted bowl, produced by CHS students. The students have handmade over 100 handmade bowls. Tickets are $3 without the bowl.

Soup for the dinner has been collected throughout area schools. Thurmont Middle School students in the SHOUT (Students Helping Others and Understanding Themselves) service learning program collected hundreds of cans of soup for the event and will be volunteer servers at the banquet. In the past, Mountain Gate Family Restaurant has generously donated numerous loaves of baked bread for the event. Extra soup (and non-soup canned donations) will be donated to local food banks.

Dinner entertainment in the cafeteria will feature a clay-throwing (bowl-making) demonstration by CHS students under the direction of CHS art teacher Jen Rogers and the Catoctin Art Department. Also on the agenda for this special evening will be an art show, under the direction of Catoctin Art teacher Michelle Thurston, with artwork and photography created by students from Catoctin High, Thurmont Primary, Thurmont Elementary, Thurmont Middle, Emmitsburg Elementary, Lewistown Elementary, and Sabillasville Elementary schools. The art show will be held in the school’s art department and throughout the cafeteria. The banquet will also offer a silent auction of many donated items from Catoction feeder teachers, staff and PTAs and area businesses. Up for auction will be items such as sports tickets, gift cards, gift bags, collectible baskets and a special collection of pottery bowls.

Following dinner, Empty Bowls banquet participants will adjourn to the school’s auditorium for the presentation of Meritorious Service Learning Awards for elementary school students, middle school students, and Catoctin High School seniors. Entertainment for this ceremony will be provided by the Thurmont Primary School Chorus, under the direction of Margo Hall, and The Thurmont Middle School Show Choir, under the direction of Berna LaForce. The keynote speakers for the awards assembly will be Debbie Wivell, Director of the Catoctin Area CASS organization, and Sue Oemig, Director of Hope Alive. A Choralfest, featuring singers from Catoctin High School and all of the Catoctin feeder pattern schools, will take place beginning at 7:00 p.m.

For more information on the Empty Bowls banquet or to purchase tickets for the event, contact Russ Headley, 240-236-8131, or via email, Russell.Headley@fcps.org.

photo caption: