Last Friday, Foodsmiths was proud to present the proceeds gathered from its 9^th Empty Bowls fundraiser to Empty Bowls and the other partner charity groups. The annual campaign was started last month on the 17^th.

In spite of the disagreeable weather, approximately 250 bowls and 14 large containers of stew were served, effectively raising over $5,000 in the process. Empty Bowls also had the pleasure of being the recipient of  the  Foodsmiths BYOB – Charity Bag Donation program in April. The program was aimed at encouraging the community to recycle grocery bags  and to secure a source of funds which would go to Perth’s different charitable programs. Every bag a customer would re-use saved the cost of using a new bag. Foodsmiths also donated 10 cents to a chosen charity for every bag brought in by customers.

And it seems like the community really came together on this one. Foodsmiths’ customers used a total of 6,056 “old” bags – an equivalent of $605.60. That brings the total amount of money raised to $5,685.60.

The proceeds raised from this effort will be donated to food programs under the oversight of Perth and District Food Bank, as well as other food programs in the region.

For a seasoned Perth potter, one minute is all it takes to turn a dull lump of clay to an elegant and perfect bowl.

Take that one minute, multiply it by 5 potters, two days, and you’ve got the 2010 Empty Bowls campaign off to a good start.

Potters recently came together at event organizer Jay Seaton’s studio to craft a good number of bowls that will be sold to help provide funds to initiatives aimed at securing food.

The goal? To produce a total of 500 bowls in two days.

The hand-made bowls will be fired and glazed to be sold at local studio tours and shops, as well as the upcoming Festival of the Maples.

The Empty Bowls campaign, an idea that started in the U.S., is a project where rather than selling bowls, potters are made to donate them, with proceeds going to food related charities like soup kitchens and the like.

Last year, Empty Bowls raised a total of $17,000, undeniably exceeding the annual goal of $10,000. Seaton hopes to build upon last year’s success by making more bowls to add funds to what they’ve currently collected.

Among those who volunteered were a number of students from Perth colleges and universities majoring in Fine Arts. According to them, the opportunity to help and hone their skills is something they just couldn’t turn down.