Hundreds attended the 11th annual Empty Bowls event Friday at First Presbyterian Church.

For $20, attendees received a handmade bowl from Dirty South Pottery, homemade vegetarian vegetable soup and bread made by My Father’s Garden. JROTC cadets directed traffic for the event, and 4-H Leadership students volunteered to serve food and clean bowls after the event and more.

Clark County Community Services Executive Director Debbie Fatkin told The Sun last year’s event served more than 300 people and raised $6,000; she expects this year’s event to be about the same.

The Empty Bowls movement began nearly 30 years ago with John Hartom in North Carolina. Hartom was an art teacher who had his student craft ceramic bowls, invite the staff at his school for a soup lunch and seek donations. The event has grown over the last three decades to every state in the U.S. and even some other countries.

Event organizer Ruthie Skinner previously told The Sun the local Empty Bowls started while Joe Molinaro and his wife, Mary, were living in Winchester. Joe was a ceramics professor at Eastern Kentucky University.

Proceeds from Winchester’s Empty Bowls benefit CCCS, aiding in its mission of helping individuals and families in crisis in Clark County.