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Northern Illinois University

NIU Office of Public Affairs


News Release

Contact: Mark McGowan, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-9472

March 16, 2004

NIU’s annual Empty Bowls fundraiser
to benefit Hope Haven shelter

DeKalb — Northern Illinois University students have a way to feed you and the hungry in our community at the same time.

The sixth annual “Empty Bowls” project is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, March 26, in the Chandelier Dining Room, 143 Adams Hall. Reservations are required. Seating times are 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m.

A donation of $15 buys all-you-can-eat homemade soup and bread, a beverage and, while supplies last, a ceramic bowl hand-crafted by an NIU art student. A donation of $10 buys food and drink only. Additional donations are welcome.

All proceeds benefit the Hope Haven shelter in DeKalb.

The menu includes broccoli-cheese soup, minestrone soup and beef vegetable soup with sputsa (dumplings). Guests also can munch on yeast rolls and a variety of breads donated by the NIU bakery. Beverages include coffee, iced tea and water.

“We do it because we are concerned about the issue of hunger within our community and others,” said Katrina Idec, president of the Student Dietetic Association. “By working together with the NIU School of Art and by making soup to go into the bowls, we show we don’t want ‘empty bowls.’ We hope participants will become aware of their ability to help fill the ‘empty bowls’ of hungry people everywhere.”

Students hope to raise more than $2,000, Idec said.

Members of the Student Dietetic Association and the Student Hospitality Association from the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences (who do the cooking) and the NIU Ceramics Club from the School of Art (who make the bowls) organize the event, which is based on an international project that originated in Michigan: http://www.emptybowls.net.

For reservations or more information, call (815) 753-1895 or visit http://chandelierdining.hhsweb.com/ online.

Parking will be available for $2 in the visitor’s lot just southwest of the Holmes Student Center.

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