A 'souper' success

In an effort to support the needy in our area, Virginia Wesleyan and the Ceramic Designers Association provided the Empty Bowls Charity Dinner and Silent Auction. The event which took place on March 25, went into its eighth year and remained a major success.

Empty Bowls raised a total of $15,000, the highest amount collected since the program's inception at VWC in 1997.

"During my time at Wesleyan, there has never been an event more successful than Empty Bowls," said Director of Community Service Diane Hotaling. "Its great how they can take something people love to do, such as making pottery and upgrading that into a charitable event."

In effort to raise more money during the event, three years ago a silent auction was added. Some of the items included in the auction were for leftover bowls, aprons and tea towels. This has also helped to spark more people's interest in attending the event.

The main problem that the office of Community Service faces every year when this event takes place during spring break, and students who remain on campus or in the Hampton Roads area are either busy working or simply not interested.

"I live in Virginia Beach, and I had to work all week," said sophomore Aaron Johnston. "If I had known about the event at least a month prior, I definitely would have taken off work and spread word to the rest of my fraternity about this event."

In comparison to previous years, the main publicizing of this event was campus- wide-emails sent from the Dean of Students' office. Previously, fliers and banners were posted around campus to notify students of the upcoming event. The question is if more people knew of the event, would there have been a greater attendance?

"I think it would have been the same," said Hotaling. "Usually it's the same students who participate in all the programs that the department offers. I would just like to get more of the clubs and organizations on campus involved."

In an effort to obtain a greater number of participants, next year the office plans on publicizing the event earlier or having the event take place before students depart for spring break.

"If the office changes the date of this event, I feel that more people will definitely come out and participate," said senior Jess Jones. "It would also be a great opportunity for people to get out and see what kind of awesome events the Community Service office puts out. I know I'd definitely be there!"