Georgia Southern University announced Tuesday that students helped raise nearly $4,000 in support of the Statesboro Food Bank by buying bowls of chili on Oct. 18 during the Empty Bowl Project.

“The sale was a great success.  This is the largest amount that this event has ever raised, and I am proud of the students for their hard work,” Jeff Schmuki, project coordinator and ceramics professor, said.

The Empty Bowl Project is held every year in conjunction with the Betty Foy Sanders Department of art’s annual chili bowl sale, according to a news release.

Ceramics students made bowls and sold each bowl filled with chili for a $10 donation.  Buyers were able to enjoy the chili and keep the bowl as a reminder of those in need.

“This project is about those less fortunate, and the larger picture is that it takes the community coming together to make a difference and solve issues like hunger,” Schmuki said.

The money raised was given to the Statesboro Food Bank to help those in the Statesboro and surrounding areas who cannot fully provide for their family, according to the news release.

The money will be used to purchase more than 18,000 cans of food, which is a two-month supply of food for the Statesboro Food Bank.

“This is, I believe, the largest single donation ever made to the Statesboro Food Bank,” Joe Bill Brannon, operations director of the Statesboro Food Bank, said.

The Statesboro Food Bank is the largest food supplier in our area and is also used to help surrounding counties, Brannon said.

Brannon said, “Not another county near us can come close to what we have at the Statesboro Food Bank, and much of that is thanks to Georgia Southern University.”