The Riverland Community College Foundation will be hosting its second year of Empty Bowls, a fundraiser to fight food insecurity for students on Feb. 23, 2023, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Riverland’s West Building of the Austin Campus Cafeteria, Room A235.

The event is a partnership between Riverland’s ceramics program and Riverland Foundation. The event will feature one-of-a-kind “empty bowls” created by Riverland’s ceramic students and faculty to build awareness about food insecurity issues. Participants will enjoy a sit-down meal including a choice of soup, a piece of pottery to take home, and learn about how food insecurity impacts Riverland students. Full experience tickets, including a piece of pottery, cost $30 per person and meal only tickets cost $20 per person. Advance tickets are required and available for sale at www.riverland.edu/emptybowls.

If people can’t make the Empty Bowls event, they are still encouraged to make donations towards our fight against food insecurity. Questions about Empty Bowls? Contact Alexis Allen at alexis.allen@riverland.edu or call the Foundation Office at (507) 433-0630.

“This event is an opportunity to invite the community to support Riverland students and learn about how we are fighting food insecurity on our campus,” said Janelle Koepke, dean of Institutional Advancement/executive director of Riverland Foundation.  “Building the event around student-created "empty bowls" is a great visual representation of what hunger may look like.  When students have food insecurity it affects their ability to focus on their education.  This event will raise funds that allow the Foundation to provide meaningful support to Riverland students who face this and other challenges that are barriers to their success.”