Carson City’s Empty Bowls fundraiser paired local pottery with soup from area restaurants at Carson Mall on Saturday, Oct. 10. Carson Now reported that people came by the hundreds. Organizer Lucas Lamont estimated about 500 attendees. The annual fundraiser supports Friends In Service Helping, the Northern Nevada nonprofit known as FISH.
FISH’s event page had announced the gathering as a family-friendly afternoon from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Carson Mall. The idea is simple: guests choose a bowl made by local hands, enjoy soup, and take the bowl home as a reminder that some neighbors still face food insecurity. FISH says proceeds support its effort to address hunger in the community. Its official page describes Empty Bowls as a project bringing local artisans and potters together with the community throughout the year.
Before the event, FISH listed a $25 ticket that included a handmade bowl and unlimited soup, with tickets also available at the door. The page described Empty Bowls as both a fundraiser and a family-friendly gathering. It also directed people who could not attend to volunteer or donate. Those are the terms the organizer published in advance; the post-event report did not publish a final accounting of ticket sales or donations.
The work behind the event stretched across months. Carson Now reported that local children, families, and school groups helped make pottery at Ogres-Holm Pottery. Lucas Lamont, identified in the report with the pottery studio, estimated that 700 to 800 bowls were made for this year’s fundraiser; the report’s caption says visitors looked through more than 700 pottery bowls at the event.
The pottery work was not limited to a single event day. Carson Now reported that Ogres-Holm Pottery set aside a session every other Thursday for people to make bowls for Empty Bowls. The recurring sessions gave participants a way to contribute over time, while the fundraiser brought the bowls together for guests to choose.
For some of the bowl makers, the project offered a way to turn an arts activity into a contribution to a local food program. Allie Baker, an arts and crafts leader with Dayton 4-H, told Carson Now that seven students took part after the club was looking for a project. Baker said the group expected to return next year. The report does not identify each student, and this account keeps the focus on the group’s participation rather than adding personal details.
Soup came from 20 local restaurants, which organizers said prepared about 110 gallons for the afternoon. Those figures were reported by Carson Now from the event; they are organizer-reported estimates, not an audited count. The mix of pottery and restaurant cooking made the fundraiser a joint effort: studio participants shaped bowls, restaurants prepared the meal, and volunteers and guests helped bring the event together.
Lamont described the event as a chance for people to participate in the effort rather than only being asked to donate. He said ticket proceeds go directly to FISH’s Food Closet. He also estimated that each bowl purchased through ticket sales represents food for 10 community members. That is the organizer’s description of the ticket’s intended impact; the event report did not give a final dollar total or a confirmed count of meals distributed.
Empty Bowls has been part of Carson City’s community calendar since 2012, Carson Now reported. The event connects FISH with Ogres-Holm Pottery, local restaurants, school groups, families, volunteers, and the people who come to choose a handmade piece. For the makers, the bowls are the result of repeated work over time; for the fundraiser, each one gives guests a tangible way to support food programs.
The event’s name points back to the need it is meant to address. A bowl can be both a small work of art and a reminder that not everyone has enough to eat. Saturday’s gathering brought those two ideas into the same place: neighbors made pottery, restaurants shared soup, and the proceeds were directed to FISH’s food assistance work. The public reports did not yet state how much money the fundraiser raised, so its documented measure is the community effort and the support intended for the Food Closet.
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