The Holy Cross community gathered on Wednesday, February 28, to donate food and watch students perform at Empty Bowls night. Empty Bowls is at the midpoint of the Lenten Food Drive, which occurred that week, and is a yearly event to focus on providing food for others.
“Empty Bowls came as an idea a few years ago by the peer minters as a way to bring in more donations,” Linda Ruszkowski, Director of Campus Ministry, explained.
The total amount of food brought in for the food drive and Empty Bowls was 2,200 non-perishable items, and approximately $800 in donations. All of the food went to the John S. Mulholland Family Foundation, and they serve nine different food pantries in the Washington D.C. area.
Many students perform at the coffeehouse part of Empty Bowls. There were many different acts during the night from singing to poetry to dancing.
“There were 40 performances and many of the groups had more than 5 people,” Ruszkowski said.
Empty Bowls night is a chance for many different parts of the school to get involved and plan one night together.
“We thought it was a cool idea because we have visual arts who can make bowls; we have performing arts who can help support the open mic; and English that supports the mic with poetry and the Mothers and Guardians Club that supports it with soup and supper,” Ruskowski added.
Empty Bowls is one of the favorite events of the year for the school community, because it has participation by all the different groups involved.
“Empty Bowls brings together so many parts of our community, the moms are there, people bring their families, faculty and staff bring their young kids, the support that students offer one another during the open mic is really fun to see,” Ruskowski pointed out.
Colette Johnson is a sophomore and she is very involved with performing arts. She was Wednesday in this spring show of the Addams Family and she plans to sing in Madrigals next year.
“I performed three times. I performed ‘Mr. Brightside’ with Avery Fisher, I performed ‘In The Kitchen’ by Renee Rapp with Addison Ruskowski, and I performed ‘On The Floor’ by The Lumineers also with Addison,” Johnson shared.
Johnson looks forward to the event every year.
“Empty Bowls is one of my favorite nights of the year and one of my favorite Holy Cross traditions. I really feel like going to perform and have fun with my friends,” Johnson said.
Senior Grace Presley was also part of the Addams Family play cast and enjoys the opportunity for students to display their skills.
“I love Empty Bowls Night because it’s a chance for students to demonstrate talents that they have, whether they’re in musical theater or not. It’s just a wonderful night for everyone to come together and live and love music,” Presley exclaimed.
