The annual holiday sale and Empty Bowls event at Colby-Sawyer will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, in the ceramics studio at the Davidow Center for Art + Design. 

As many as 50 students in Professor Jon Keenan's ceramics courses will sell bowls they’ve thrown; proceeds will be donated to area food banks and pantries. 

“We have been able to raise thousands of dollars on campus to support the fight against food insecurity,” said Keenan, who has organized the event for decades since meeting John Hartom, founder of Empty Bowls. 

Nationwide, the grassroots effort fueled by artists and craftspeople has raised tens of millions of dollars for food-related charities and has brought attention to food insecurity throughout the United States. 

“Empty Bowls events educate students about the importance of giving back to people, and they provide a means to create positive and lasting change in our communities,” Keenan said. “An empty bowl symbolizes the reality that too many people are unable to put food on the table or fill their bowls.” 

Kyla Ruchti ’27, of Guilford, Connecticut, experienced that reality first-hand.  

“It means a lot for me to participate. Growing up, my family struggled to put food on the table,” said Ruchti, who majors in studio art with a ceramics concentration. “We used food stamps and food pantries.” 

Ruchti said her bowls — both shallow and deep, and with a foot and flat bottom — will have a blue or black glaze. 

Over the years, the money made from the holiday sale has gone to several area organizations, including the Kearsarge Lake Sunapee Community Food Pantry and the New Hampshire Food Bank. 

“I hope this event is able to raise enough money to be able to benefit all the local food banks, soup kitchens and shelters,” Ruchti said. “In the economy and state our country is in right now with food stamps being at risk, it’s important that this fundraiser does well and helps as many people as possible.”