SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Art students at Wittenberg University have been throwing and glazing hundreds of bowls since the beginning of the academic year - enough to fill a large pantry - in an effort to prepare for the annual "Empty Bowls," an event to combat hunger in Clark, Champaign and Logan counties. This year's event will be held at Wittenberg from 4- 8 p.m., Thursday, April 3, in room 105 Shouvlin Center, located on Ward Avenue.

Empty Bowls has been an annual sell-out event offering delicious soups and beautiful handmade keepsake bowls for patrons to take home. Proceeds benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank. Monies raised in past years have exceeded $5,000, and Scott Dooley, Wittenberg assistant professor of art, hopes to top that goal this year. While hundreds of bowls have been crafted, Dooley suggests to arrive early as past events have sold out in the first few hours.

"We encourage people to come and enjoy delicious soup and lively conversation with your neighbors and take the bowl home as a reminder that there are many people in our community that are hungry," Dooley said.

The cost to attend is $10 per person. Also available for a $10 donation will be "Empty Bowls" T-shirts-a small price to pay for food, fellowship, a community donation and a unique work of art that can be used again and again. Free parking is available in the Benham-Pence Student Center lot and the new Krieg Hall lot across the street from the Shouvlin Center.