Warm soup filled colorful bowls on Hayden Lawn as ASU students collected donations for a local homeless shelter Monday afternoon.
As part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, ASU’s Programming and Activities Board offered free painted ceramic bowls with the $5 purchase of soup during its Empty Bowls event on the Tempe campus.
Local pottery painting chain As You Wish donated the bowls, which PAB staff members painted. On-campus food service company Aramark donated the chicken noodle and tomato soup.
Proceeds from Empty Bowls and other community service events throughout the week will be collected and donated to a local homeless shelter, PAB intern and computer science sophomore Becca Bever said.
“With the holidays coming up, this is the perfect time to give back to the community,” she said.
Empty Bowls gives students the opportunity to help people they might not otherwise come in contact with, Bever said.
“It’s nice to be a part of something that helps and touches people outside of the ASU community,” she said.
James Randall, a management intern for the Office of Student Engagement who helped plan this year’s National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week at ASU, said donating to a local shelter sheds light on the poverty issues prevalent in Arizona.
“Now, especially with the economy going sour, it’s good to focus on stabilizing our local economies first,” he said.
ASU’s series of awareness events offers just a small picture a global issue, Randall said.
“Hunger and famine are huge issues in our world,” he said. “What we want to do is cater to issues that are affecting both America and countries abroad.”
Emily Cushing, director for the PAB special events department, said Empty Bowls was a unique program for PAB to take on.
“It’s not often we do community service events,” Cushing said.
PAB typically focuses on entertainment events and tries to draw students to events outside of classroom hours, she said.
But Empty Bowls allows students to drop by between classes to make affordable donations and contribute to a cause without losing much time or money, Cushing said.
“People can feel like they’re doing their part on their own,” she said.
Secondary education freshman Jake Teyechea was one of the students who stopped by the colorful table on Hayden Lawn between classes.
“It’s a good way to help out,” Teyechea said, watching as a volunteer poured soup into the red bowl he chose.
Teyechea said that living near the U.S.-Mexico border has made him constantly aware of those less fortunate than him.
“Where I’m from, I see a lot of hunger and poverty,” he said. “This is a chance for me to help change that.”
Reach the reporter at jessica.testa@asu.edu.
