Eighth-grade art students at Ironton Middle School recently got some hands-on experience in the fight against hunger.

With a simple ball of clay and a potter’s wheel, the students created the potential to raise about $600 for the Huntington Area Food Bank.

About 50 art students in Brennan Lewis’ class each made a small bowl to donate to the Empty Bowls project, a national grassroots effort to raise awareness and money to fight hunger in the local community.

Many of the art students said ceramics was their favorite aspect of the class, but using their creations for a charitable cause was an added bonus.

“I thought it was good that it (the money) was going to a food bank,” Mason Slagel said.

“It’s a good cause to get food out to people that need it,” echoed Breanna Klaiber.

This year marks the seventh annual Empty Bowls event in the Tri-State and is sponsored by the Marshall University College of Fine Arts.

Lewis, who is a graduate of MU and completed graduate work there in ceramics, has participated making bowls in past years and thought the opportunity was a good one for her students.

“The class agreed to do the project knowing their work was going to be donated to raise money to fight hunger,” Lewis said. “The students were more than willing and very enthusiastic to be a part of Empty Bowls.”

The fundraising event this year will be from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. April 19 at the First Presbyterian Church in Huntington, W.Va.

The cost is $12 and includes a modest soup lunch and a handcrafted bowl.

Lewis said she was proud of her students’ hard work on their bowls and said she was glad they had the opportunity to feel like they made a difference in their community.

“As an art teacher we do not oftentimes get the opportunity to give back to the community by creating art,” Lewis said. “I am very proud of my students for their hard work and effort knowing that they would not get to keep the end result, their bowl.”