Latest news with #CindyMaloy
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fighting hunger one bowl at a time
Greater Johnstown School District students, faculty and staff and area artists shaped clay and decorated more than 500 ceramic dishes, all to help in the fight against hunger. And that's admirable. Now in its 14th year, the school's Key Club's annual Empty Bowls dinner has raised more than $50,000 for local nonprofits to address food insecurity. Attendees choose handcrafted bowls, and then receive a small meal of soup and a side of bread. The fundraiser supports the Cambria County Backpack Project, the Women's Help Center Inc. and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Art teacher and Key Club co-adviser Cindy Maloy told our Kelly Urban that 'we pick these three (nonprofits) because they are so instrumental in serving our families and our community and homelessness and hunger.' Empty Bowls was started by a Michigan art teacher in 1990 as a way to raise awareness of food insecurity and to allow artists and students to make a difference. Spinoff fundraisers have sprouted since, including at Greater Johnstown, with proceeds going back to the community. A new addition to this year's fundraiser was a Soup 'R Bowl event at Made in Johnstown. Twenty talented artists competed against each other – and the clock – to create 352 bowls in almost three hours with 400 pounds of clay donated by Made in Johnstown. Maloy said Empty Bowls is a project that students want to experience. She said, 'Our students have big hearts and they want to give back to the community and make an impact, and this gets them involved and shows that they can do big things.' This annual fundraiser helps our community fight hunger one bowl at a time.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Johnstown HS students prepare handmade bowls for annual fundraiser
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — Dozens of high school students and local artists are making bowls to prepare for the 14th annual 'Empty Bowls Dinner' on April 24. The event is a fundraiser to benefit local organizations that combat hunger and homelessness in the community. It'll support the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Altoona-Johnstown, the Cambria County Backpack Project and the Women's Help Center. Each empty bowl serves as a reminder of the people who go without food every day. 'This dinner supports local organizations combating hunger and homelessness in our community. So all the money stays directly in our community and it services many of our students and their families. So that's really important to us, being one of the poorest districts in the entire state of Pennsylvania,' Cindy Maloy, the school's Art Teacher and Key Club Co-Advisor, said. This year's dinner is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center in Johnstown. The cost is $15 for adults and $10 for students and children. Additional bowls can also be purchased for $10 each. Last year, they raised $6,000 for the three organizations. They also celebrated a milestone of $50,000 raised in the last 13 years. 'It's amazing and it's heartwarming and it shows that our community can support us. And it also shows the awesome things that our students do at Johnstown High School,' Maloy said. Congressman Glenn Thompson accepts prestigious award and talks about issues farmers are facing From the pottery wheel to the finished product, each bowl takes anywhere from eight to 10 days to create. The members of the Key Club said it's worth it. 'I really love like when little kids come up and they're like, mom, this is the bowl I want. And I can be like, that's my bowl. I mean it fills me with so much joy and like, a sense of accomplishment, and what I'm doing is like making a difference and making people happy,' Blaise Veney, Secretary of the Key Club said. However, Key Club members aren't the only ones contributing to the fundraiser. Advisors, staff at the high school, and ceramic artists who participated in the first annual Soup'r Bowl also made bowls. Hundreds of bowls are already completed, and ready to be filled with soup. 'I love getting my hands dirty in the clay and just getting to shape them all. It's just a really cool organization, and I'm extremely happy to be a part of it. I love that we're helping so many different communities,' Delanie Kiser, a Senior Key Club member, said. She's already made 60 bowls. This is her third year participating in the event. The Key Club expects to have around 500 bowls ready for the dinner. In the meantime, you can follow their progress on the club's Instagram page. All of the proceeds will be evenly distributed between the Cambria County Backpack Project, St. Vincent de Paul, and the Women's Help Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Greater Johnstown students getting ready for annual Empty Bowls dinner fundraiser
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Students in Greater Johnstown High School's Key Club are shaping clay and decorating ceramic dishes as they prepare for the 14th annual Empty Bowls dinner in a little more than a month. Students gathered in art teacher and club co-adviser Cindy Maloy's classroom Monday to help create roughly 400 bowls for the fundraiser, scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. April 24 at Bottle Works in the Cambria City section of Johnstown. 'Being in a community like Johnstown, where there's a higher rate of unhoused people and people who are experiencing food insecurity, it's nice to know we're helping,' said sophomore Jackson Synan, who is in his third year in Key Club and his second year helping with the Empty Bowls dinner. PHOTO GALLERY | Greater Johnstown High School Key Club Empty Bowls Fundraiser The fundraiser supports the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Altoona-Johnstown, the Cambria County Backpack Project and the Women's Help Center. 'I specifically love that it's our community and we get to choose where the money goes,' Synan said. 'We know the people it's affecting.' Empty Bowls was started by a Michigan art teacher in 1990 as a way to raise awareness of food insecurity and to allow artists and students to make a difference. Spinoff fundraisers have sprouted across the U.S., including in Johnstown, with proceeds going back to the community. 'When I think about when we started this venture to where we are now, it's hard to believe we'd be this successful after 14 years,' Maloy said. She said the opportunity to help the community is paramount, and so is showcasing students' good work. As of Monday, Maloy had 47 students making bowls, with plans for more than 75 to assist this year. 'We have a lot of new students who have picked this up, which is awesome,' she said. Key Club students from the middle school chapter are also being tapped to help out with glazing bowls. Delanie Kiser, a Greater Johnstown senior, described the dinner as a great opportunity for the community, adding that she enjoys making the bowls. She has made about 30 bowls so far in her third year of helping with the event and being a Key Club member. 'I'm so grateful to be part of it,' she said. 'It's so great to see the money raised go back to the community.' A new addition this year is the Soup 'R Bowl event at Made in Johnstown to raise proceeds for Empty Bowls. The pottery challenge will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, with money from registration fees being donated to the Key Club. Made in Johnstown has also donated the clay for the event and will provide the bowls for the dinner April 24. Getting more community members involved is exciting, Maloy said. 'This is here and this is just beautiful,' Key Club co-adviser Luigina Magistro said. Empty Bowls was her introduction into being a club adviser and is a fundraiser she is passionate about, Magistro said. She added that she's always excited to see the students do positive work and support their community.
