The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will hold its 15th Empty Bowls and Baskets Dinner on Thursday, March 27.

The event, which raises awareness and money and awareness about hunger in the Bradford area, will take place from 5 to 7 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 tasting will include an array of homemade soups, bread and baked goods along with beverages. Diners may take home a handcrafted basket, ceramic bowl or napkin set 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, local school students made artwork, and local artisans and students contributed bowls.

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

Over its first 14 years, the Empty Bowls and Baskets event has raised more than $22,000 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 help 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 have raised millions of dollars to combat hunger.