On Sunday, May 18, a group of local potters will turn their craft into compassion during Empty Bowls. Now in its eighth year, the fundraiser supports the Flat Rock Backpack Program, which delivers bags of food to more than 150 students in Henderson County every Friday. The premise of the event is simple: Ticketholders enjoy a meal, complete with soup and bread donated by local restaurants, in the Parish Hall at the Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness. They also take home a vessel donated by area creatives like Honey Burrell, who throws nature-inspired pots on Pinnacle Mountain in Henderson County. “I became interested in pottery 19 years ago when I saw a sign in the window at Mud Dabbers Pottery in Brevard,” Burrell remembers. “It said, ‘Try pottery for a night!’ Well, I took the challenge and fell in love with clay.” Burrell says her “genuine love and concern for children” inspired her to donate art to Empty Bowls. “The thought of children being hungry is more than I can bear,” she notes. That same spirit motivates potter Carol Freeman, especially now in the wake of Hurricane Helene. “The program’s food costs have significantly increased following the devastation wreaked by Helene on the MANNA FoodBank — a major source of food in past years — and the local Ingles,” she explains. “For these reasons, this year’s fundraiser is all the more important.”
Empty Bowls will happen on Sunday, May 18, in the Parish Hall at the Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness (1905 Greenville Hwy., Flat Rock). Two seatings will be available from 12–2pm and 4-6pm. Tickets are $30 per person or $50 for families (two adults and children under 12) and can be purchased online at stjohnflatrock.org/empty-bowls.