NORWICH – Between 60 to 70 guests showed up to a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day Luncheon Monday at the Broad Street United Methodist Church. Children from The Place’s youth group, the Norwich Family YMCA’s youth group, as well as Norwich High School students enrolled in SUNY Morrisville Extension’s Liberty Program hosted the luncheon, which represented a local effort to take part in the national Empty Bowls project and to teach Chenango students about giving back to the community.

According to its website, emptybowls.net, the Empty Bowls project is an international grassroots movement striking fear into the heart of hunger, wherever it may lurk. The Empty Bowls project encourages collaboration between educators and craftspeople in an effort to inspire the community to make bowls as well as host a simple community meal of soup and bread. The Empty Bowls meals are free for everyone, although guests are invited to make donations to local food panties.

“It has truly been a community effort to come together and the kids are learning how to care for each other. Caring for one another something that was important for Martin Luther King,” said Morrisville Norwich Campus Early Childhood Development Coordinator Margaret Hoose.