Along with creating a ceramic bowl, residents will have the opportunity to fill the plates of children who desperately need it.

The Selma Art Guild in conjunction with Integrity Worldwide will host “Empty Bowls” throughout the month of February, a program that will help feed schoolchildren in Meto, Kenya.

After talking with Becky Blaylock of the art guild, Averee Hicks of Integrity Worldwide said the idea for the program “just sort of clicked.”

“Becky and I talked one day and she was telling me about her desire to do something through this Empty Bowls project to benefit some people that didn’t have enough food, to help feed people,” Hicks explained. “We started talking and I told her about what’s going on in Integrity Worldwide’s program for the students in Kenya.”

Hicks said two years ago a school principal in Meto, Kenya, which is the area Integrity Worldwide works with, came to her and expressed a need for meals for the school children who were suffering from hunger.

“These kids were really starving so we stepped in about two years ago and started doing these lunches,” Hicks said.

Today, Integrity Worldwide feeds more than 700 children three times a week through the program. However, more food is always needed.

“I was telling Becky about this and we were sharing back and forth and it just clicked,” Hicks said of the idea to incorporate Empty Bowls into the feeding program. “She thought this would be a great way to get the art guild involved.

Empty Bowls is an international grass movement created by the Imagine Render Group. The premise of the idea is to create two bowls — one to keep and one to donate to the project, which helps to fight hunger.

The first Empty Bowls class, titled “Seize the Clay,” will be held Friday from noon until 3 p.m. at the guild. The cost is $30 and all materials are included. All proceeds will go toward fighting hunger in Meto, Kenya.

“It was just one of those divine appointments,” Hicks said of her and Blaylock’s conversation, which led to the Empty Bowls class. “It all just kind of clicked and made sense. It’s great to be able to take someone’s gifts and talents, like pottery, and use it for something good.”

To register for the class, call Becky Blaylock 872-8920 or send an email to becky60b@gmail.com.