By Lezlee Gutierrez, Student Reporter

ACU joined with 26 local companies this Saturday to sponsor the Empty Bowls Project at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1741 Sayles Blvd.

Local artists made ceramic bowls to be sold at the event as a fundraiser to fight local and world hunger. More than 900 bowls were donated to the event, and all sold out by 5 p.m.

Aldersgate UMC sponsored the fundraiser for the second year and was very excited with the turnout.

“It’s wonderful that a simple concept has such a big impact on our community,” said Tim Palmer, college and outreach minister at Aldersgate UMC. “We appreciate that the majority of the help we get for this event comes from college students.”

Local organizations will receive 75 percent of the funding raised at the event, while international organizations get 25 percent.

Local organizations include Shackelford County Community Resource Center of Albany, United Methodist Food Pantry/First United Methodist Food Pantry, Abilene Hope Haven, Methodist Children’s Home, Meals on Wheels Plus, The Food Bank of West Central Texas, Breakfast on Beech Street and Heart of Texas Good Samaritan Ministries of Brownwood. International organizations include Sanctuary Home for Children, which is based in Abilene and operates in India, and Heifer Project International.

Fourteen faculty and staff members from the School of Social Work, along with their families, purchased ceramic bowls from Mine By Design at half price and painted the bowls themselves to donate to the fundraiser.

“We wanted to contribute a little bit to the project,” said Stephanie Hamm, assistant professor for the School of Social Work. “We always want to be a part of any project or organization in the community that contributes to ending hunger.”

Mine By Design, 4150 Southwest Dr., is a pottery and art studio that allows customers to pick out their own ceramic pieces and create their own art by decorating the pieces with paint and glitter.

Several bands that contributed their form of art to the event included Ballroom Ballroom, Jennifer Fuentez, Timothy Palmer, Reagan Patton, Red Wise and Seven Storey Mountain.

The Empty Bowls Project sold 650 bowls last year and raised more than $8,500. The projected goal of the Empty Bowls meal in combination with the silent auction this year was about $12,000.

For more information about the Empty Bowls Project and how to contribute to the event, visit www.emptybowlsabilene.org.