CURRENT AGE: 15
GRADE 7
EMPTY BOWLS
For Anna Stone, 17, a clay bowl is a powerful symbol. It represents the volunteer work she does to spread awareness of hunger.
Anna’s definition of youth activism is “youth being involved with their community and actively trying to make a difference and trying to improve the lives of those around them.”
That would certainly apply to Anna, who is vice president of the Youth Action Council of Ottawa, KS. The 10-year-old community council is comprised of sixth- through 12th-graders who undertake “meaningful” service projects in their community.
Empty Bowls was one such project. An international project to fight hunger, Empty Bowls started 20 years ago with one simple idea: Raise awareness of hunger and food insecurity by taking a ceramic bowl and serving a simple meal of soup and bread in it.
There is no single way to hold an Empty Bowls fundraiser. Most organizations choose to make the bowls. For YAC’s event, high school students and local potters created the bowls. On the evening of Jan. 29, residents gathered at Ottawa High School for a meal of soup and bread in the bowls, which sold for $10 each.
Though the meal was simple, the project was not. Not only were area potters and high school students involved, so were elementary students and the elderly. “For about three or four months, we planned the hunger event. It took a lot of planning,” Anna said.
It also was a great success, bringing the community together and raising more than $3,000 for area food banks.
“We had a snowstorm that night, and we still had tons of people coming out and buying bowls. And that showed me that people in our community now feel that it’s an important issue and that it is their job to step up,” she said.
Did you personally get anything out of the Empty Bowls project?
Yes definitely. I feel a stronger link to my community because it took so much work, coordinating with teachers in our school and local civic groups, just going out and talking with local civic groups.
Do you think youth need to pay more attention to the issues of the economically disadvantaged?
I think so, more than ever, especially with the recession. It’s going to become a big issue if it hasn’t hit your town already. Even if it doesn’t affect you, it’s going to affect one of your friends or your family members.
How does Empty Bowls help in educating young people about the plight of the poor and hungry?
It really does serve as a reminder that there are so many who are less fortunate than us. Empty Bowls really lets us see that firsthand. Otherwise, I don’t think it would be on the radar of most teens.
www.emptybowls.net
Copyright 2010 Y-Press