Ashland — The Ashland Community Kitchen learned firsthand on Wednesday a fundraiser that has worked well in Huntington can also be successful in Ashland.

For a number of years, the Marshall University Department of Art and Design and Keramos Student Pottery Guild has produced bowls for the Empty Bowls project to benefit the Huntington Area Food Bank. For a $12 donation, individuals can receive one of the handcrafted bowls as part of a lunch of soup, bread and beverage.

The Community Kitchen decided to try the same idea in Ashland. One difference was the bowls in Ashland were produced by Morehead State University Art Department students under the direction of instructor Kira Campbell. The MSU students produced 200 bowls for the Community Kitchen as compared to the 1,000 bowls created by Marshall students for the HAFB.

In appreciation of Campbell’s role, Pollock’s Jewelers used one of the bowls to craft an award for her. While Campbell was not able to attend the luncheon to accept the award, Alfreda Moore, director of the Community Kitchen, said the MSU art teacher “almost single-handedly made it possible.”

More bowls are sure to be produced for the next Empty Bowls project in Ashland, Moore said. Well before the first bowl of soup was served at Ashland’s First Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, all 200 bowls had been purchased. In fact, Moore sold her own bowl to help meet the demand.

“I’m very pleased with the response we received,” said a grinning Moore while looking at the crowd in the church’s fellowship. “We could have definitely sold a lot more bowls, and next time, we will try to get the students to make more.”

The response to the first Empty Bowls in Ashland is further evidence of “what a caring community this is,” Moore said. “I can’t say enough about the generosity of the people of Ashland. They have a real compassion for the poor and hungry and are so willing to help.”

The soup was donated by Texas Roadhouse, Cheddar’s, Applebee’s, Tim Horton’s, King’s Daughters Medical Center and Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital. The roadhouse also supplied workers and hot rolls for the project.

With the food and bowls all being donated, the Community Kitchen made at least $2,000 from the project, but with some who did not get a bowl also buying the $10 meal and others giving extra, the amount is certain to be more than that.

Because of the economic downturn, Moore said donations to the Community Kitchen are down while the need is up. “This will help us a great deal,” she said.

The Community Kitchen also will benefit from Huntington’s Empty Bowls project, which will be Tuesday at Huntington’s First Presbyterian Church, 1015 Fifth Ave. The HAFB provides low-cost food to the Community Food Bank and other nonprofit organizations in northeastern Kentucky.

The Community Kitchen served its first meal on June 3, 1983, and now serves free meals to an average of 91 people a day. It serves lunches Monday through Friday and also evening meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Community Kitchen has been based in the fellowship hall at Calvary Episcopal Church for the past 26 years, but it hopes to move to The Neighborhood, the name given the former Johnson’s Dairy Building which is being converted into new headquarters for the Community Kitchen, The Dressing Room, Area Presbyterian Ministries, River Cities Harvest and CAReS. River Cities Harvest and CAReS already are in the building.

JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2649.