For many the holidays are a time for celebration and thanksgiving, yet for some, the holiday season brings need for both emotional and physical nourishment.

On Friday, Iowa State’s Student Union Board will grant ISU students and community members a chance to give back to those in need.

This year’s Empty Bowl Project: Fighting Hunger Locally and Globally, will raise funds for one local and one global organization, Mid-Iowa Community Action and Oxfam America.

Brittney Carpio, Student Awareness director on the Student Union Board who had an instrumental role in planning the event, hopes people truly understand how prevalent these issues are, even in the Ames community.

“My mom was a single mom for a long time, so when I was younger we used welfare food stamps,” Carpio said. “[For me] it kind of has a special meaning.There is a very good chance that you know someone that is hungry at night and you don’t even realize it.”

ISU students, along with Ames community members, will be given the chance to pick out their own handmade ceramic bowl Friday to fill with their choice of hearty vegetable soup or classic chili in order to raise awareness and funds for those fighting hunger this holiday.

“We get tons of students and then tons of families. A lot of people in the community know about it, so they bring their kids. It’s cool because there are so many different people, it’s not just students, or just adults,” said Ashley Antle, Student Fine Arts director on SUB, who was in charge of collecting the pottery for this year’s Empty Bowl Project.

Area artists and businesses donated bowls for the event, as well as potters at the Workspace in the Memorial Union and students from the College of Design. Carpio said one of the hardest parts of planning the event is finding bowls, but according to Antle, this year they already have more than 65 bowls and more are expected before Friday.

“Especially at this time, holiday time, [it is important] to give back a little bit, and I think that this is a really easy way,” Antle said.

Members of the Student Union Board will also be collecting non-perishable food items to be donated to MICA. MICA is a private, nonprofit organization helping children and families in central Iowa fight poverty. For the past 35 years, MICA has been offering low-income families with the resources they need to overcome poverty.

Donations will be given to both MICA and Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization, working to create solutions to end poverty, hunger and social injustice.

A unique aspect of this year’s Empty Bowl Project is that with each donation to Oxfam, individuals will have the opportunity to purchase a specific “gift” for a family in need. Some of the examples include: a cow, school supplies, trees, a goat, or even an alpaca meadow.

“Not only does this cause benefit people all over the world … but it also benefits people locally, which I feel should hit people a little closer to home,” Carpio said. “You know that there is hunger around here, and there are still people that need food.”

Friday’s event, in correlation with Winterfest, also presented by SUB, will take place in the Memorial Union’s Cardinal Room from 5 to 7 p.m. Prices are $8 for ISU students, $10 for community members and $6 for children younger than age 10. Also, anyone who brings in food to donate to MICA gets $1 off their admission price.