Name: 2025 Empty Bowls - Ames, IA
Start: 2025-11-15T17:30:00-06:00
End: 2025-11-15T20:00:00-06:00
Location: Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation

The second annual Empty Bowls fundraiser will be held on Sat., Nov. 15 at the Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation (2622 Lincoln Way, Ames). Join us between 5:30 - 8 p.m. for a soup supper, including bread and homemade desserts. The soup will be served in a handmade bowl made by a local artist that patrons are able to keep as a reminder of the empty bowls in our community and beyond.
This year, the event will benefit three organizations that address food insecurity for students in our community: Gilbert Community School’s Backpack Buddies, the ISU Students Helping Our Peers (SHOP) food pantry, and the Ames Community School District, through the central HOPE (Helping Other People Eat) Pantry at the AMES Center.
Tickets are $30 when purchased by check/cash in advance, $35 online via credit card, and if available, $40 at the door. A $30 ticket provides meals for a student for nearly a month.
Tickets are available for cash/check-only purchase at Collegiate United Methodist Church (2622 Lincoln Way, Ames), the Octagon Center for the Arts (427 Douglas Ave.), Gilbert Lutheran Church (135 School St, Gilbert), and The Vault (125 Main St., Gilbert). To purchase tickets online and learn more, visit the Ames Community Arts Council website, www.amesart.org. Note that each ticket outlet has unique hours, so call ahead or check the website.
Empty Bowls is a global, grassroots movement that raises money for food-related charities and organizations that fight hunger. Empty Bowls invites participating artists to create and donate bowls, then serve a simple meal. Guests choose a bowl to use that day and to keep as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. In addition to the artwork being provided by local artists, several local restaurants and grocery stores have also generously donated to the project.
This event is made possible in partnership with the Ames Community Arts Council, the Octagon Center for the Arts, The ISU Memorial Union Workspace, and the Creative Artists’ Studios of Ames. Special thanks to those locations making physical tickets available, and to the Ames Community Theater (ACTORS) for being our electronic ticket outlet. This project is funded in part by the City of Ames Commission on the Arts (COTA).