SOUP’S ON!

Is it just me or does it feel absolutely horrible putting on your nice warm coat or settling in to your nice warm bed?  Watching the Syrian Conflict unfold has been heartbreaking.

My 9 year old was given the task at school of finding a community service project somewhere in the community to participate in.  Each kid in the class was on there own.  I told my son to try to give what ever he deemed to be one of his strengths.  He loves to cook so we started there.

A woman in my pottery studio had read in the paper that a local woman was volunteering at The Nour Education Program in Lebanon and how it was a school set up for Syrian refugee children.  It was decided that our pottery studio would host a fundraiser for this school.

My son and I decided this was the perfect community service project to invest in.  The studio needs potters to donate their ceramic creations to the event so that each person who makes a financial donation can take home a hand-crafted bowl.  They need homemade soup to feed the guests of the event and homemade bread. Make bowls and cook?  We got this!

I also volunteered to make the flyer for the event and I have to say, I am so proud of myself!  That’s my bowl! (ok and my husbands curry too!) But, I made that!!!  I photographed it and designed the flyer too.  I’m so thrilled with how it came out!  I can’t believe I made something in pottery that looks so darn cool on a flyer (yes, yes and my husbands curry too!)

Pardon me for gushing on myself.  I don’t do it that often, but once in a while I can recognize I done pretty darn good!

Now where was I….

Oh yeah… Time to make some bowls!  My son decided to invite a bunch of his friends to come to the pottery studio to create a ceramic bowl to donate to the event.

They did an amazing job.  Without any prompts, the most beautiful things were etched into their bowls.  Words like “Pay it forward”, “Be the Inspirer”, “Know the Fun” &  “Joy, Joy, Joy!”  Kids are awesome.  They really are.  I love that my kid’s school has them thinking about the world at large and people in their community.  What can you do to help?  How can you be helpful?  I tell ya, I know I wasn’t doing community service in 3rd grade. I think I was drooling on an eraser and drawing on my desk!  Huh.

I was not prepared for the turn-out of kids.  We made 19 bowls in total!

This was my son’s bowl.

OMG. I will be the first patron in line to get that bowl –grandparents, don’t even think about it!!!

 So we are off to a great start.  I glazed all 19 bowls today.  I can’t wait to see how they turn out.  My son has decided he is going to cook up a batch of loaded baked potato soup and Dad is going to teach his son how to bake bread.  We are hoping for a good turn out and have started the process for a second fundraiser for the same refugee school.

These photos were taken by Katie Jones at the Nour School.

It’s my hope that my son learns a valuable lesson.  You can’t save the world. You just can’t.  -but you can pick a spot and start making it better! 

That’s how us humans get things done!