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West Kings Hungry Bowls Fundraiser:
Youth Raising Awareness of Food Security Issues
Submitted
West Kings District High School’s first Hungry Bowls fundraising dinner is taking place in the cafeteria on Tuesday, October 22 from 5:30-7:00pm as a drop-in meal. Tickets are $25 at the door in support of local food banks, and include a meal of soups, rolls, and desserts, and a handcrafted, one-of-a-kind bowl. A free will offering at the suggested minimum of $5 allows the event to be accessible to children and families. Artwork in both traditional and electronic media will be on display to raise awareness of hunger.
Begun in the US as Empty Bowls, Hungry Bowls has now been running for a number of years at NSCAD and some schools in our province to raise funds to help fund food agencies and raise awareness about food insecurity.
Heather Davis, teacher at West Kings, learned of Hungry Bowls through professional development last fall and wanted to run it at WK, inspiring students to make a difference. There is a need to make students aware of food insecurity and take an active role in being a part of community solutions, a need to recognize the human right of food, and to make nutrition-dense, quality food available for all.
Hungry Bowls is a mini project within a tech enhancement initiative at West Kings that has been designed by Ms. Davis and colleagues Janet Balcom and Sara Harris. Balcom and Harris teach technology courses at West Kings and Davis integrates technologies into her drama, visual art, and music programs.
While the the Hungry Bowls project kicks off the year, the theme of food security and raising awareness about it is happening throughout the year at WK. Students are being encouraged to collaborate creatively on solutions to this and its related issues whether they be local or global, and to design, construct, and think as digital age learners across the curriculum. Students’ assignments are for the community, much larger than the classroom, as they develop as engaged citizens. Activities in courses include researching and creating informational materials or displays and performances to raise awareness on eating local, the slow food movement, food choices, food waste, gleaning, and programs that support those who are food insecure. Opportunities have been presenting themselves for visiting farms where gleaning takes place, S.O.U.P. programs, and Devour! the Food and Film Festival, as well as to learn documentary-style filming. Students are learning that Nova Scotia is the most food insecure province, even though we live here in a fertile, agricultural valley.
