Creating a bowl is one thing the clay arts students at Haywood Community College know how to do and do well, which makes them the perfect fit to help out with the annual Empty Bowl Dinner benefitting the Open Door Soup Kitchen.

The event, now in its 12th year, features a soup dinner with proceeds going to The Open Door to help feed those in the community in need of a hot meal. But what makes the Empty Bowl Dinner special are the bowls themselves.

Each person attending the fundraising dinner gets to choose a handmade pottery bowl created by local potters, and among them are the works of HCC’s pottery students.

“Every year the students donate a handful of bowls, a couple a piece,” said Stephen Lloyd, clay arts instructor of the Professional Crafts Clay Program at HCC. “It’s an easy way for ...