Empty Bowls, full hearts: Art students support Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky

UNION – Isabella Roth counts herself fortunate.

That’s why the 16-year-old Randall Cooper High School student feels the need to give back to the community.

On April 8, she participated in the Cooper Art Club Empty Bowls event where she and other students served a lunch of soup and bread in exchange for a donation to help the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky. Those in attendance could take home a handcrafted bowl created by the art students to serve as a reminder about the many individuals that go without each day.

“I enjoy when we do Service Projects, it makes me feel amazing to be a part of it, Roth said. “I learned how fortunate we are for what we have in our lives and how making simple bowls can have a huge impact.”

Something as simple as that can make a difference. The Art Club raised $400.

Madison Lillard, 18, was happy to partake in this service project.

“It makes me happy knowing we are supporting and raising money for a good cause,” she said. “I have learned that anyone, anywhere can make a difference in their community by participating in a service project.”

Cooper visual arts teacher Rachael Burriss said that The Empty Bowls Project is an event that she participated in during her years at Morehead State University. She’s always wanted to do this type of service learning project with her students. This year, everything fell into place and they were able to make it happen.

“The Empty Bowls Project is a unique kind of fundraiser because it requires the action step,” she said. “Students aren’t just buying a product or donating money, they have to physically become invested in the idea of the project to create a work of art that they will eventually donate.

She said the students’ response has been great. They made 100 bowls for the event.

“They were all excited about the opportunity to help the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky,” she said. “I like the overall mission of the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky because they offer both life-saving help in the winter and life-changing help in the summer. They address the whole person and I felt that was an extremely admirable mission.”