If you would’ve asked me what a lathe was a week ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. But last Wednesday night, I found myself standing in front of one, learning the ins and outs of wood-turning.
Why? To help end hunger — one bowl at a time.
One bowl=140 meals. How cool is that?
Organizer Ben Farrell, a co-owner of Lenny’s Restaurant in Clearwater, covers all operating costs out of pocket, which allows for 100 percent of the public’s donations to be put toward ending hunger. After losing a close race for State Representative in Pinellas in 2012, Farrell was looking for a way to get involved in civic affairs. Inspired by Empty Bowls, a Feeding America Tampa Bay program involving sales of pottery made by schoolchildren and local artists (see “Help Is Here”), he decided to create a similar event based on his own interest in woodworking.
You don’t have to be an expert to take part. After a quick instruction session, I was given a piece of a cherry tree trunk and a wood-cutting tool and was put to work on the lathe. In the end, my bowl was more tray-like than bowl-like — but it'd be great for appetizers, I'm told.
My bowl will be among those up for grabs at Bowls for Good’s fundraiser at Lenny’s on Sat., Dec. 6, from 6:30-9 p.m. Tickets are $20, which includes one handmade bowl, soup and bread, and can be purchased in-studio, online or at the door. Other CL staffers are making bowls next Wednesday in Ybor Square outside our offices, and their handiwork will be for sale in a celebrity auction during the Dec. 6 event.
This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2014.