Bowls for Haiti

Fundraiser helps quake relief efforts

LAKEVILLE — Tables full of handmade bowls, some pinched, some coiled, some thrown, lined the main hallway at The Hotchkiss School on Friday afternoon, April 16. Every shape and size and color was available for $10  at Bowls of Hope for Haiti, with proceeds going to Haiti relief efforts.

“Mr. Pressman [chaplain at Hotchkiss] issued a call to arms,â€� said Sam Davidson, a senior and a  ceramics student from Madison, Conn. “He said, ‘Hotchkiss needs to raise money for Haiti.’ So this is what we came up with.â€�

With the help of ceramics instructor Delores Coan, Hotchkiss ceramics students guided other members of the community in making bowls for the fundraiser.

Coan had run a similar event before, through Potters for Peace, an organization that sends American potters to Central America to help native potters make their wares more marketable. The group also installs ceramic water filters in underdeveloped nations around the world.

“I haven’t done the event in years,� Coan said. “But Potters for Peace is in Haiti now, so it seemed like a good time to bring it back.�

The Empty Bowls fundraiser traditionally raises money to fight hunger worldwide. Usually, soup is served in the bowl and diners pay a donation. At the end of the meal, they take their bowl with them to remind them of those who are hungry. For the Haiti fundraiser, the bowls were sold without soup.

At Hotchkiss, everyone in the community was invited to make a bowl to help out. Experience was not needed.

“We set them up with balls of clay and they made a pinch pot,� Davidson said. “Or we gave them a slab of clay they could shape. The artistic ability was all their own.�

Once the pots were made and fired, the ceramics students glazed them.

“We started glazing over spring break,� Davidson said. “Then during class, we would glaze a bowl whenever we had five or ten minutes.�

Around 200 bowls were produced. Special bowls made by faculty members or ceramics students such as Davidson were put up for silent auction, with bids starting at $25. The sale ran Friday, to take advantage of the Hotchkiss Now program, which brings alumni back to campus, and Saturday during Grandparents Day. At the end of the sale, the students had collected more than $1,500.

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