Empty Bowls

Each year, the Auburn/Opelika Empty Bowls alternates between the City of Auburn and the City of Opelika. On Friday, March 21st, 2025, the City of Auburn hosted the annual event and raised $14,644.00 for the Food Bank of East Alabama. We are thankful for our community and its generosity, and can't wait to see everyone next year in Opelika! Please continue to visit 4emptybowls.com for updated information regarding the 2026 event.

As part of an ongoing effort to combat hunger in our area, the City of Auburn's Dean Road Ceramics Studio and the City of Opelika's Denson Drive Recreation Center will hosted the 12th annual Opelika-Auburn Empty Bowls in the Spring of 2025. The event will included soup and entertainment. Every ticket purchased was a direct donation to the Food Bank of East Alabama. Each ticketholder got their choice of a handmade bowl created by local artists along with soup and bread.

What is Empty Bowls?

Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger that was initially created by The Imagine Render Group in 1991. The basic premise is simple: Local and regional potters, craftspeople and educators work to create hundreds of handcrafted bowls for each Empty Bowls event. Guests are then invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a cash donation, guests can keep their bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in our communities. 100% of the money raised by the Auburn and Opelika ceramics studios during each Empty Bowls event is donated to the East Alabama Community Food Bank.

Empty Bowls would not be possible without the generous support of our local sponsors. Each year, sponsors donate delicious soup, bread, unique items for the Empty Bowls Raffle and in some cases their talents!

For more information or questions concerning Empty Bowls, please contact Emillie Dombrowski, Art Education Specialist, at edombrowski@auburnalabama.org, or call (334) 501-2944.