Clay in Class

By Special “Clay in Class” Blog Contributor: Keith Y. Preston, D.M.A., Fine Arts Coordinator, Paradise Valley Unified School District, Phoenix, AZ

Empty Bowls is an international project which brings, artists, community members, organizations and merchants together in events which produce funds for local food banks.  Empty Bowls events empower the whole community to see that many small actions, cooperatively made, can significantly improve lives and that (ceramic) art can be a powerful catalyst for change.  Read on to find out how the Paradise Valley School District, Laguna Clay Company and the local Laguna distributor, Marjon Ceramics helped a community find a way to help…

This is a true story…

A fourth grader sits at his desk while the teacher engages the class in a lesson about the Hopi Indians, but he has trouble staying tuned in because his stomach is growling loudly. He didn’t have breakfast that morning…or the morning before…or most mornings. That’s why he looked forward to lunchtime. Everyday, just before noon, the class would go to the cafeteria for lunch. This boy would receive a backpack filled with nutritious food. He liked the backpack because it quieted his tummy and having the backpack allowed him to blend in with his classmates. The backpack provided food in a way that did not call attention to the fact that his family did not have enough to eat.

This backpack, and hundreds more just like it, are provided by the Paradise Valley Emergency Food Bank — a small operation staffed by volunteers and completely dependent upon donations. Their only overhead cost is the storefront rent and the utilities. It is a bare-bones operation. The PVFEB serves over 8,000 families every week in north Phoenix. Some of these families fall far below the poverty line. The food bank estimates that they serve over 4,000 children — all of whom attend Paradise Valley Schools.

In 2008, I had a conversation with the director of the food bank.  She told me that during the fall semester, with the run-up to the holidays, the food bank usually receives enough donations to meet their demand. But in the spring semester, in most years they are barely able to pay their rent, let alone provide food for needy families. I asked the her what she needed most and her answer was immediate: cash.

We talked further and came to the conclusion that the best way our school district could help the food bank was to find a way to infuse cash during a time when donations are at their lowest point. So . . . how could a school district help this organization when the school district was also strapped for cash? The school district didn’t even have enough money to buy supplies for themselves. The answer was clear: begin with one Empty Bowl: