Soups and Scoops will return to the Northampton Area School District 5:30-7:30 p.m. March 27 in the Northampton Area Middle School cafeteria, 1617 Laubach Ave.

Soups and Scoops was inspired by the Empty Bowls project, a grassroots movement by artists and craftspeople that originated in Michigan in 1990-91, with art teacher John Hartom and Lisa Blackburn. The idea was to raise money and awareness for food-related charities, with participants creating and donating homemade ceramic bowls for a meal and attendees taking the bowls home as a reminder of hunger.

They wanted to give artists and art students a way to make a personal difference. Today, Empty Bowls events happen all over the world, under their own localized names, and each one operates independently.

“We heard about it through one of the other teachers who worked out in California years ago, and another teacher who learned about it as well. And we heard all kinds of little tidbits about Empty Bowls programs happening in different communities,” Holly Weitknecht, Northampton Area High School art teacher, said.

According to NAMS art teacher Erin Miller, “The art department at the school feels strongly about showing the impact that art can have in your community by uniting people and bringing people together and the positive things it can do.”

They would like to see their students become able to use their creativity to help the world by getting involved in those projects they think would benefit most from their help.

At some point in the discussion, they reached that moment where they knew they were going to do an Empty Bowls event. What better way to teach all those principles? Unfortunately, it was already midyear and there were only three teachers on board, so they had to scramble to pull it off.

The event turned out to be a great success, and everyone wanted to see it return — and so it has. Each year it gets a little bit bigger. The event was paused one year during the COVID-19 pandemic. This fifth year, they’ve made 300 bowls as opposed to 100 bowls in the first year.

The kids love it. The middle and high school students have a chance to mingle, and the high schoolers will show the younger kids how to do everything, from prepping the clay to rolling it and shaping it. They have building, glazing and firing sessions in between. Some of the kids have been in the program long enough to be familiar with all the steps.

They try to involve as many people as possible, because, according to Miller, “a lot of the time people are looking for things to do. If you have an opportunity for somebody to do something good, they want to take it.”

This means students from many of the different disciplines contribute to the bowls event, not just the art students. For example, there are some students from the geometry class who are doing radial symmetry flowers that will be part of the displays at the dinner; there are seventh-grade students doing visual recipes for the place mats; the E.L. students are growing plants and doing printmaking with them; and there are music students.

This year, the NAMS orchestra will be there, along with the chamber orchestra, which has been one of the hits in the past. The NAHS Volunteer Club has kids there to help serve, and some students at the school television studio are making videos to advertise the event.

In addition, the elementary kids made many of the decorations and the complementary spoon rests available at the event. It is truly a whole-school event.

The response from the parents and community has been equally positive. Weitknecht and Miller say they have been stopped by people who will express how much they love the event.

“It’s a very positive and happy thing overall, I think,” Miller said.

“I think that, at a time when people seem to be a lot less involved in their community than at times in the past, to be able to have something that pulls people together, is a beautiful thing,” Weitknecht said.

Each year, the money raised goes to the different food banks or food charities that serve the district. This year, it’s the smaller food banks that have been developed within the schools themselves and Northampton Area Food Bank that will benefit.

Come out and discover how good food, camaraderie and art make great dinner companions.

The menu consists of various soups, bread and ice cream. The food is donated by local businesses and individuals.

To purchase tickets, go to the NAMS page on the school district website, nasdschools.org.

For more information, contact Miller at millere@nasdschools.org or Weitknecht at weitkneh@nasdschools.org.