(Posted April 10, 2012)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Juniata College art department has overseen the creation of hundreds of bowls for hungry diners willing to eat a vast range of hearty soups at an Empty Bowls event to raise money to benefit various Huntingdon County food banks in the Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon.

The Empty Bowls dinner, which is at 5 p.m. Friday, April 13 in the basement of the Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon, requires a ticket price of $10 for adults and $5 for children under 10. Patrons of the event who have paid the adult price will get not only soup and bread, but also a hand-made ceramic soup bowl from the college's renowned pottery program. Empty Bowls, is a nationwide event designed to focus attention on world hunger.

Tickets are available at the information desk in Juniata's Ellis Hall and the Unity House on Moore Street.

The dinner will raise funds for many different local food banks. The event is sponsored by The Mud Junkies, the college's ceramics club, the Art Alliance, PAX-O, the college's peace studies club, and the Catholic Council.

To celebrate the sixth anniversary of Juniata's involvement with Empty Bowls, a a local 4-H group and a local Girl Scout troop created bowls for the event. Juniata students and about a dozen community members also made the more than 400 bowls needed for the event. "In the past five years we have raised more than $10,000 and served at least 150 gallons of soup," estimates Benson

A variety of soups and breads will be available for the event, provided by a wide variety of local restaurants. In the past some of the restaurants donating the soups included: Hoss's, Memories, Dragon, Donna's, Herwig's Austrian Bistro, Standing Stone Coffee Company, Boxers, Diner 22, and Sodexo Campus Services Division, the food service provider for Juniata College. Other businesses have donated services or supplies.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.