 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Photos by JOE CALANDRA Albert Bauchinger and Rex Hamaker prepare soup for the Empty Bowls Charity Dinner. Soup, bread and cookies were served as the meal to help raise awareness about homelessness and hunger. |
Meet John, a resident of the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center. The center is one of four local charities that benefit from the proceeds of the annual Empty Bowls Charity Dinner held March 5 at Virginia Wesleyan College. "I'm 50 today and life is good," John wrote in a letter to the community and volunteers of the program. "I'm happier than I've ever been. It's humbling to look back on how much it's taken to get me back on an acceptable track. The operation I could not afford, the therapy, counseling on substance abuse, healthcare and housing just to name a few. I have a long way to go, but I'm well on my way."
Now meet Barry. He voluntarily admitted himself to the center six years ago. Barry was once a successful family man who lost all he had and loved to his cocaine addiction. After only a year with the Virginia Beach center he has bounced back on his feet. "He got help for his addiction, which, like all our services, from education for children to G.E.D. help sessions, are provided for free," said Richard Powell, Executive Director of the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center. "He found work with a construction company, too. Today, his only debt is a car payment, and he has never missed a single day of work. He's a real success story. He was a trooper.
"All I know is, we keep the doors open and food on the tables and such because of help from upstairs and generosity from people like the ones who put on events like the one here at Wesleyan. That check goes a long way to helping us do what we do. We give people who really need it a way to get back up when life has knocked them down. They come to us broken and they leave us healed." Most non-profit faith-based groups like J.C.O.C. do not receive monetary support from the federal government and depend on contributions from members of the community to maintain operations. That fact prompted Elaine Birk of the Ceramic Designers Association to do an event to support local charities seven years ago. "I was looking for a way to get our group involved in the community," Birk said. "I heard about the Empty Bowls Project that began at a school in Jackson, Mich. It combined helping the needy with our love for clay."
Said alumna Robyn Bailey, co-chair of the Empty Bowls Charity Dinner from the C.D.A., "Folks from all over come to one location and they don't get an elegant meal for the ticket price of twenty dollars. The theme here is the cause. Showing people that many Americans don't exist on full four- and five- course meals every day. Hunger is a big issue." Local designers make bowls that ticket-holders select upon arrival to the event. There was a silent auction for other ceramics in addition to the sale of aprons, tea towels and the extra bowls. Members of the campus community and guests brought non-perishable food items for donation to the Foodbank of Hampton Roads.
 |
| Photo by JOE CALANDRA Professor of Art Philip Guilfoyle provided demonstrations on the potter’s wheel while people stood in line to chose their bowls from the hundreds donated by members of the Ceramic Designers Association. |
"Ninety-eight percent of all the profits go straight to the charities from all the sales," said Wesleyan Community Service Director Diane Hotaling. "Tickets cost $20. We sold 600. The silent auction generated $3,500. The results aren't in yet from the sale of tea towels, aprons and extra bowls, but at its base we will probably stand to contribute between $12,000 to $14,000." "Overhead is kept low because everything needed to put on the event is donated. The Virginia Beach Council of Garden Clubs made our floral arrangements. The entertainers included alumni performer Scott Bailey on guitar and members of the local neighborhood like Chelsea Darling from Princess Anne High School.
In addition J.C.O.C., the three other groups who get financial assistance from Empty Bowls are H.E.R. Shelter, Union Mission Ministries and OASIS Social Ministry. H.E.R. stands for the Help and Emergency Response the shelter offers to battered women and children. They provide everything from support groups to legal counseling, teen dating violence awareness and a physical safe haven from spousal/relationship violence. Union Mission Ministries and OASIS Social Ministries operate through the collaborative efforts of several local churches to provide clothing, food and shelter to the needy. Forty-two volunteers from Virginia Wesleyan College worked at the Empty Bowls Charity Dinner, including the baseball team, who helped box the canned goods for the Foodbank. Albert Bauchinger from Germany gave a few hours on the first Friday night of Spring Break to help provide for shelters like the J.C.O.C., which serves between 80 to 100 people a night.
"I like the event because it shows that food isn't guaranteed," said Bauchinger. "I like that we are serving bread and soup, which is what people get when they go to a shelter at times when there is nothing else to eat. It makes you feel some of what they feel. When I served food after school in Munich, the government ran the shelters. Here in the States, they don't, so it's harder on the shelters and they need everybody else's help to make things better for people who don't have a lot." Senior Rex Hamaker said, "Students are busy people, which is why this event really works for me personally. The community comes to us and we can still help the community. That's a good thing because food is a really constant need. Give someone a coat, it will last a season. Give them some food when they are hungry, a place to stay and show them that you care – that it will get better. That is constantly fulfilling."
Please contact the following agencies if you are interested in volunteering:
Judeo-Christian Outreach Center
Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia
H.E.R. Shelter
Union Mission Ministries
|
Site created and maintained by Linda De Rosa.