Arcadia University raised $4,498 in ticket sales and cash donations to fight food insecurity at the 31st annual Empty Bowl Dinner on Monday. This year, all proceeds went to Caring for Friends, a Philadelphia non-profit that raises money to feed home-bound and unhoused individuals.

Donations of household cleaning supplies and personal hygiene products were also collected to be distributed between the two Knights Resource Pantry locations.

“Events like Empty Bowl are important at Arcadia because of not only the continuation of a long-standing tradition but also because it shows our ongoing commitment to connecting with and helping those in need within our community,” explained Director of the Office of Sexual and Gender-based Violence Prevention and Education and Manager of the Knights Resource Pantry Sabrina Glass, who organized the event. “To me personally, Empty Bowl shows our empathy and capacity to care for others and come together as a community to show that care.”

Students, faculty, staff, and community members were all welcomed into the University Commons Great Room, where they could choose a ceramic or wooden bowl crafted by Arcadia students, local K-12 students, and local artists before enjoying bottomless bowls of chili, broccoli cheddar, tomato, Italian wedding, and creamy potato soups, bread, and desserts. 

Karynne Henry ’25, who attended Empty Bowl for the first time, said, “I really like the event, the bowls are really cute and I know I’ll think about this event every time I look at it.”

“I think it’s really important to give back to the community,” Henry continued. “Especially as a college student, it’s hard to be able to just donate money so having this kind of event lets me help out in a different way.”

This sentiment is what brought Caeden Conklin ’25 back to Empty Bowl.

“I’ve been to Empty Bowl before, I always try and look out for charity events when I can,” explained Conklin. “Empty Bowl has always been nice you get a little decoration out of it and a good assortment of soup so this is always a great way to give back. Lots of places make it seem like you have to go out and donate or donate money over and over so it’s great that Arcadia has events like this where we don’t have to worry about getting to the location or finding transportation.”

“I had class right in the middle of Empty Bowl last year so I just got a bowl of soup and took it to class,” said Ven Mubarak ’26. “This year I wanted to come back again for more good soup. It’s also really nice that we get bowls made by students in the area. We get soup and bowls for coming, but more importantly, we also get to support the community.”

Mubarak even brought two friends to experience Empty Bowl for the first time.

“I like the community-building of this event,” explained Sam Guercio ’25. “It’s also super relaxed, lots of events are very high energy but I like how this is calm and you can bring your friends and family to support a good organization.”

“I like that we’re supporting this cause,” added Micah Grundy ’27. “It reminds me of the volunteer work we did with Rise Against Hunger at the beginning of the year. It’s just a really important thing for us to help fight.”

Over its 31 years, Empty Bowl has raised approximately $176,498 for local organizations fighting hunger including the Knights Resource Pantry, Manna, Family Promise of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Rise Against Hunger.