Area residents are pictured at last year’s Empty Bowl Project at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. This year’s fundraiser takes place Saturday.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Jamestown Public and Mobile markets are teaming up with Chautauqua County Empty Bowls to host the third annual Empty Bowl Project in Jamestown on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Locally, the event is sponsored by Chautauqua County Empty Bowls, a loosely organized assembly of the area’s amateur and professional potters. Many of these individuals work together at Mudslingers, the pottery studio owned and operated by Ron Nasca in downtown Fredonia. Others in the group work in their own studios and some from Pearl City Clay House. Over the years the fund drive has met with growing success in Fredonia and it made its debut Jamestown in 2022.

While numerous individuals have created the hundreds of beautiful, one-of-a-kind bowls, none are signed by the maker. Instead, they are imprinted with the “Empty Bowls” logo thus continuing to remind the user that there are hungry persons in the world. The bowls come in sizes designed to acknowledge contributions of $10, $20, and $30.

Soup is donated by the Labyrinth Press Company, Ashville General Store and numerous community members.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Jamestown Mobile Market, which takes food to the food desert areas of Jamestown to ensure that local residents have access to fresh produce and as well as provide emergency food assistance via St. Susan’s Soup Kitchen. Last year’s Empty Bowl Project fundraiser raised nearly $16,000.

For more information, call the St. Luke’s Church office at 716-483-6405.