The Vincennes University Clay Club and Culinary Arts Department held its annual Empty Bowls sale this past Friday with approximately 100 bowls being sold for $15 apiece.

Three soup varieties were offered at the event, including a vegetarian option. They offered chicken noodle soup, broccoli cheddar, and a vegetarian tomato soup with fresh-baked bread, perfectly complementing the rainy day.

The empty bowl represents more than just poverty. It represents the humble aspect of life, and as a “metaphor for who we are,” according to ceramics Prof. Spencer Ebbinga.

“It also represents the potter’s hand— the creative hand of a maker, who makes something from nothing, where they’re using clay or wood or other material to make bowls, and then it having a value that we can then give away or transfer that value, and then to do that in a way that helps other people,” he said.

Ebbinga expressed his passion for the Empty Bowls movement, showing his love for the community.

When asked about the importance of supporting hunger relief programs locally, Ebbinga said, “With the amount of resources and money that we have in the year 2025, it doesn’t seem plausible to me that people go hungry and don’t have food security — it’s a huge injustice to the human race.”

He expressed the importance of learning and teaching students about food insecurity and how we “give our lives away to people and how we learn to give instead of take.”

In 2023, the estimated food insecurity rate in Indiana was 15.1%.

“They’re almost like invisible populations — we don’t really see them,” said Ebbinga. “We don’t notice them, and a lot of times it’s prideful. You don’t want to let people know that you’re in need.”

All proceeds from the event are donated to Helping His Hands Food Pantry for Thanksgiving.