On Feb. 11, HHS ceramics students helped Hopkins citizens make bowls for the Empty Bowls Fundraiser. The other participants included the Community Chair of Empty Bowls, district staff, and community leaders.

The annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser at Hopkins Center for the Arts will be held on March 24 this year. People who attend the event will be able to pick a bowl and decide whether or not to donate. All the money raised will be donated to ICA Foodshelf and ResourceWest.

Over the past 16 years, the Hopkins Schools community has raised a total of $862,025 during the Empty Bowls fundraiser.

Fourth graders in all six Hopkins elementary schools made bowls along with the students in ceramics at North Junior High, West Junior High, and HHS.

“The goal of the fundraiser is to raise $80,000. The day before the event, we usually raise $65,000 of that in sponsorship,” said Barb Westmooreland, coordinator of Empty Bowls.

The expenses of the event are minimal because almost everything is donated.

“Everyone can come, you can make donations if you want to, but everything is free,” Westmooreland said. “You come and walk around the art center, choose your bowl, have some food. There is entertainment that changes every half hour.”