At the end of November Futuro Verde celebrates the tradition of Thanksgiving with a shared meal and activities having a theme of gratitude. This year, with the opening of the Futuro Verde ceramics program, the Art department is happy to initiate a new tradition in concert with Thanksgiving – “Empty Bowls”. Students in all grades will be learning the craft of ceramics and about ceramic artists. The unit will culminate with the creation of a decorative (but usable!) bowl to be used during our Thanksgiving meal and offered for sale to raise funds.
“Empty Bowls”, an international initiative to combat hunger, has a 27 year history which began with teachers John Hartam and Lisa Blackburn in Michigan, USA. These fundraising events usually take place in conjunction with World Food Day on October 16th. The objectives of “Empty Bowls” is to:
Raise as much money as possible to feed the world’s hungry people.
Increase awareness of hunger and related issues.
Advocate for arts education.
For our Thanksgiving “Empty Bowls” fundraiser, we will be raising funds to assist the community of Rivas in Perez Zeledon which was devastated by Tropical Storm Nate and is the community where our Social Studies teacher, Karol, grew up and has family. This humble population depends mainly on agricultural and tourism. These activities have been heavily damaged with the effects of Tropical Storm Nate and the economic recovery for families is very slow. To make matters worse, damage to roads and bridges has made the arrival of help more difficult. For this reason, any help we can give will be received with enormous gratitude.
We invite all members of our community to join us for this event! We will have plenty of bowls for everyone to use for their meal and for purchase to can help this community in dire need.