For T’Jay Bone, it is all about meeting needs.
The Eisenhower High School junior is the driving force behind the school’s Empty Bowls fundraiser, which will benefit Hungry Hearts and First Christian Church’s Agape program, both of which provide free meals to those in the community.
Bone said he became concerned about those in the Lawton Fort Sill community who might have a hard time feeding their families during the government shutdown.
“It’s a personal thing for me,” Bone said. “Families who are only on food stamps, it’s hard to make ends meet.”
Bone, who is a member of the EHS Key Club, said he has seen firsthand the need for food in the community. Key Club members have volunteered at the Lawton Food Bank in the past and Bone has helped prepare bags of food items and delivered them.
Bone approached his ceramics teacher, Sherri Denning, about holding an Empty Bowls event to raise funds to help feed the hungry. Denning was on board, and about 30 students in her ceramics class began making the pinch pot bowls in October. Students also are making table decorations, such as gingerbread houses, snowmen and Christmas trees.
Denning said the project easily fits into the curriculum for first-year ceramics students. One of the first things students learn is making a slab, which she said is the foundation for the gingerbread houses.
The table decorations and gingerbread houses will be part of a silent auction at the Dec. 11 Empty Bowls event.
“It is a way for our class to help the community,” Bone said. “Our hope here is that we will get a lot of money to donate to them to allow them to get more food.”
The goal is to have about 200 bowls ready for the event, Denning said.
“We’ve kinda been cranking them out,” Bone said. “They are all homemade, so they are loved. We have a variety of sizes.”
Once students finish making their bowls, they will be fired and then students will glaze them before they are fired again. Denning said the process allows students to show their creativity, both in making the bowls and in painting them.
Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Attendees will select the bowl they want, and it will be filled with homemade soup. Panera Bread is donating bread for the event, but for those who want dessert, it will cost them. Denning said a grandparent of a student in the class will make cookie trays, which in turn will be auctioned.
Denning is confident her students will be able to meet their quota of bowls by the time of the event; several have volunteered to work over the upcoming four-day Lawton Public Schools weekend.
“I’m going to make as many bowls as I can. I kinda just get in here and start cranking them out,” Bone said. “To me, it is less about how much an individual can do than about coming together to provide for the community.”
“With the economy the way it is, there are a lot of hungry people out there. They wanted to help as many as possible. The community is giving to us all the time,” Denning said. “The students are all pitching in and getting excited.”
One of those enthused about the project was Krista Perrine, 17, EHS senior, who was carefully making her first bowl.
“It’s good to help people in need,” she said of the project.
Tickets, which will be sold by the ceramics students, go on sale this week, and may be requested by calling the school office at 580-355-9144 and asking for extension 3040. The event is from 5:30-8 p.m. Dec. 11 in the school’s commons area. The goal is to raise $1,000, Denning said.
“I’m very excited,” Bone said. “I’ve always loved giving back to the community. Giving back to the community is one of my favorite things to do. I’m very happy this event is going on.”