Four local churches are cooperating to raise money for local aid organizations in this year’s Empty Bowls event, something Empty Bowls organizer Garry Taylor said is a first for the event.

“I just think it’s really nice that four different churches across denominations are all working together to help make a difference,” Taylor told the Daily News.

Empty Bowls this year is sponsored by St. James United Methodist Church and will be held at Broadway United Methodist Church on March 19.

Money raised through the event will go to the First Christian Church’s Community Grocery Store food pantry, which is currently housed at State Street Baptist Church while FCC completes renovations. The Warren County Public Schools Synergy Center will also receive support.

Taylor said last year’s event raised $4,000 for the Synergy Center and for HOTEL INC’s Delafield Co-Op grocery store.

Bowling Green’s event is part of a nationwide Empty Bowls movement. Getting food to those in need is the movement’s primary goal, Taylor said, as is raising awareness around the issue of food insecurity.

“You can’t really fix a problem if you don’t even know you have one,” Taylor said. “We’ve got one in seven adults, one in five kids that don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”

A hallmark of Empty Bowls are the handmade bowls crafted by local potters for the event. Attendees choose one of several hundred bowls to eat out of during the event, and then keep the bowl afterwards.

Taylor said for this year, potters from Western Kentucky University and around Bowling Green will craft roughly 500 bowls for the event.

“It makes a nice addition to their house, but it also serves as a reminder that they helped provide food to someone who was looking at an empty bowl at mealtime,” he said.

Empty Bowls is slated for 5 p.m. at Broadway United Methodist Church, 1323 Melrose St. Tickets are available online at https://www.emptybowlsbg.com/ for $15 and will be sold at the door too.