In 2007, SHSU student Sarah Lisenbe volunteered for the Montgomery County Food Bank, and she learned about, and assisted with, a program called Empty Bowls. The next year, she interned for the Wynne Home, and she worked with local artist Tamara Chasteen to put on the program in Walker County. For 18 years, this program has been helping fight food insecurity in Walker County by benefitting the Walker County Senior Center and the “Meals on Wheels” program.
The Wynne Home has led this charge, with Angela Robinson spearheading this effort the past several years, and the LEAP Ambassadors assisting each year since the program’s inception.
The program involves two broad phases. First, art teachers offer classes to community members bowls are created and glazed. Second, just before or during Lent, the community comes to the Wynne Home, and with a suggested donation of $15, they can select a ceramic bowl, and then enjoy a hot meal donated by area businesses. For 2025, the generous sponsors were Five Loaves Deli, City Hall Cafe, Sam’s Table, Potato Shack, Huntsville High School Culinary Class, and HEB.
This year, under Robinson’s leadership and the assistance of many talented art teachers, the program produced more bowls (300) and, if preliminary reports are accurate, a record amount of donations (approximately $7,200)–to which the LEAP students contributed almost $600.
But it is a true community event. Teachers promote the arts in the community by hosting pottery sessions; local residents learn to mold and shape and glaze bowls; businesses donate to the worthy cause (Diego Varela, owner of Sam’s Table not only donated soup, he stopped by to donate!); and locals come to support the fight against food insecurity, see the Wynne Home, and enjoy each other’s company.
This was on full display today, with elected officials, city employees, non-profit leaders, and more than a hundred others supporting the cause. It was an Ash Wednesday to remember, but it’s purpose is to help fight food insecurity year-round. So, with each ceramic bowl that a local resident takes home, they have a reminder not only of the beauty and creativity inherent in art, but also that there are others who are suffering from a lack of the basic necessities. That is, they lack even food to put in bowl.
But, with the help of events such as “Empty Bowls,” there are fewer such bowls in Walker County.
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 