News Release  

Buy Empty Bowls to help people who are hungry

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 4, 2009) — Blues fans will find more than music at the 2009 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, July 2 to 5. They’ll also find beautiful, hand-crafted pottery at the Empty Bowls booth, coordinated by Oregon Potters Association.

Oregon Potters Association, a group of potters working in Oregon and southwest Washington, coordinates the annual fund-raiser to benefit Oregon Food Bank.

OPA collects hundreds of pottery donations of all types, sizes and shapes from its member ceramic artists throughout the year. OPA members then sell the donated pottery — often at bargain prices — at the Empty Bowls booth at the Waterfront Blues Festival.

Since 1993, OPA’s Empty Bowls has raised more than $198,000 to help fight hunger in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Last year, OPA’s Empty Bowls fund-raiser raised more than $12,994 for Oregon Food Bank.

Distribution of Emergency Food throughout Oregon and Clark County, Wash., has reached record levels, according to Oregon Food Bank. In an average month, more than 210,000 people rely on food from emergency food boxes to stave off hunger in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Of those, 36 percent are children.

“Oregon Potters Association is once again pleased to contribute to the efforts to help feed people who are hungry,” said Bill Sanchez, chair of this year’s event. “The event provides local potters a way to make a personal difference. In addition to pottery, the booth will include some glass art, thanks to donations from local glass artists who are members of the Oregon Glass Guild.”

The empty bowl symbolizes hunger and poverty faced by people throughout the world. A group of Michigan potters created Empty Bowls in 1991. The program is now a fund-raising project in nearly all 50 states.

All proceeds from Empty Bowls benefit Oregon Food Bank and its work to eliminate hunger and its root causes … because no one should be hungry.

About Oregon Potters Association: The nonprofit Oregon Potters Association is a group of potters working in Oregon and southwest Washington. OPA’s goal is to promote individual creativity, excellence and growth through education and a cooperative spirit. 

About Oregon Food Bank: Oregon Food Bank is a nonprofit, charitable organization. It is the hub of a the Oregon Food Bank Network, a statewide network of 20 regional food banks and 915 hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash.

About festival sponsors: The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union.  

Major sponsors include FedEx Corporation, iQ Credit Union, The Oregonian A&E, KINK.fm, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Wildhorse Resort and Casino, and Travel Portland.

Supporting sponsors include Mission Foods, Deschutes Brewery, Henry’s, Beringer Wine, Snapple, Earth2o Water, Pepsi, Frito Lay Snacks, Yoshida Sauce, Dave’s Killer Bread, Eggland’s Best, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Burt’s Bees, NW Natural, The Boeing Company, PacificSource Health Plans, OregonLive.com, Blues Revue, Music Millennium, True Tone Audio, Karolyn March, Lions Foundation, Cascade Blues Association, Winthrop Music Association, Oregon State Fair, Oregon Potters Association, Cascade Zydeco Association, Delta Music Experience, University Place Hotel, Marriott Hotel, RiverPlace Hotel, Hotel Fifty, travelportland.com.

For more information, visit www.waterfrontbluesfest.com.

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Note to reporters and editors: A Blues Blog, music samples by festival artists on our Jukebox, video links and downloadable, high-resolution photos are available at www.waterfrontbluesfest.com.