MCCC Students Celebrate Earth Day with 'Empty Bowls'

Information Courtesy of Robert Gardner, MCCC Think Green Correspondent

As part of Montgomery County Community College’s Earth Day celebrations on April 22, the Ceramics Club held an “Empty Bowls” event to raise money for a local soup kitchen.

Guests of the Earth Day Empty Bowls event were invited to a modest soup-and-bread meal. For $10, donors will receive a brand-new, handmade bowl filled with fresh soup and baked bread supplied by on-campus food services provider CulinArt.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of homemade ceramic bowls will also be reinvested in the club, which consistently makes use of recycled materials, thereby reducing waste as well as MCCC’s overall carbon footprint.

“More than half of the clay is re-processed from student waste clay,” said Galen Graham, club president.

On Saturday, April 6, Ceramics Club hosted a “glazing party” for MCCC students, faculty, and staff. The glazers shared refreshments while creating between 180-200 individual pieces of pottery. The variety of participants ensured a variety of artistry. Check out photos of the glazing party below.

“Someone might think to use colors or do something that I never would,” Graham said. “And that’s always a good thing. The veteran members of the club have so much experience and they were willing to help anyone just starting out.”

According to Assistant Professor and Ceramics Club Advisor Michael Connelly, the kiln was loaded and fired on Tuesday, April 9 and was unloaded by the club on Thursday, April 11.

Empty Bowls is an international movement determined to battle hunger.  The group invokes the powerful image of an empty bowl to remind those with enough to eat:  There are far too many empty bowls across the globe. In true grassroots spirit, these events enlist local potters, artists, and other citizens to provide assistance to the hungry in their own communities.

The Ceramics Club thanks the following partners for supporting the Earth Day fundraiser:

• Presidents Climate Committee
• Barnes and Noble College Bookstore
• Arts and Humanities Division
• CulinArt
• Student Leadership & Involvement