A Citrus College art professor and two alumni are still crafting ceramics together 15 years after bringing the Empty Bowls charity event to Glendora.
Alan Wadham connected with another former Citrus student, Lynn Hendricks and art professor Michael Hillman to contribute to a charity by using their common passion: ceramics.
Wadham helped organize the event after retiring from being a sergeant at the Glendora police department. That was 15 years ago.
Since then Wadham said he has contributed to the event every year by buying a piece and creating the bowls themselves.
“I always take at least one home” Wadham said.
Wadham didn’t begin working with clay until he was 47, but after taking a ceramics course in Colorado he said “it changed my life.”
Henricks graduated Citrus College with an AA degree and two ceramics certificates, she founded an art program at First Christian Church, and arranged for the Empty Bowl event to be held at the church.
The Laguna Clay Company donates thousands of pounds of clay, used by Citrus College ceramics students and Pioneer Potters to make bowls to fund raise for the hungry.
Customers pay $20 to choose their ceramic bowl and are served their choice of soup supplied by local restaurants.
Proceeds from the bowls serve those with food insecurity in three ways. The money goes to Glendora police department so that officers can give food vouchers and gift cards to those in immediate need. The money also goes to Shepherd’s Pantry and the Saint Vincent de Paul society.
Scott Pangburn, a fine arts major at Citrus, volunteers at the event.
“I take part in the whole process from making, glazing, firing and selling (the bowls),” Pangburn said.
Each year one thousand bows are made. Pangburn said the bowls that are not sold are referred to as “seed bowls” and are sent to new Empty Bowls locations to help them start their events.
Wadham said the event has raised several thousand dollars but that it is “never enough”, so they created another event in November, Empty Cups.
Classic Coffee in the Glendora village hosts Empty Cups, where people can purchase a ceramic handmade cup or mug and fill it with coffee or hot chocolate, and all the proceeds go to the same charities that Empty Bowls benefits.
Together both events raised $5,700 last year.
“This event wouldn’t even happen if it weren’t for Citrus College” Hendricks said.
