BRADFORD, Pa. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will hold its 14^th Empty Bowls and Baskets Dinner, the first since the COVID-19 pandemic, March 22 on campus.

            The event, which raises awareness and money about hunger in the Bradford area, will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mukaiyama University Room in the Frame-Westerberg Commons. A requested donation of $10 for the public and $5 for Pitt-Bradford students and children will be accepted at the door.

            The simple dinner will include an array of homemade soups, bread and baked goods along with beverages. Diners may take home a handcrafted basket, ceramic bowl or dish towel as a reminder that someone else’s bowl might be empty.

            The event is a community-wide effort. Pitt-Bradford students, faculty and staff wove baskets, and local artisans contributed bowls.

            A silent auction and bake sale will also raise money. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Friendship Table in Bradford as well as the Panther Pantry, which is a resource for Pitt-Bradford students experiencing food insecurity.

            Over its first 13 years, the Empty Bowls and Baskets event has raised more than $20,000 to fight hunger.

The Empty Bowls Dinner began in 1990 when a Michigan high school art teacher and his students sponsored the first dinner served in handmade bowls to benefit the cause. By the following year, the originators had developed the concept into Empty Bowls, a project to provide support for food banks, soup kitchens and other organizations that fight hunger. Since then, Empty Bowls events have been held throughout the world, and millions of dollars have been raised to combat hunger.