Like a stock show of tableware, various artists are auctioning off 1,300 bowls in Cowtown today to help fight hunger in North Texas. The Tarrant Area Food Bank is fighting hunger at its annual Empty Bowls luncheon today at the Will Rogers Coliseum.

At the event, volunteers will get lunch and originally handcrafted, signed bowls to take home and to participate in a silent auction, said JoAnn Biggers, TAFB volunteer coordinator.

Empty Bowls is run mostly by 125 volunteer positions filled by TCU nutrition students, parents, high school students and other friends of the food bank, Biggers said.

TCU students are in the Contemporary Issues in Nutrition lab, which requires them to volunteer for three hours at the TAFB, said Lyn Dart, an assistant professor in nutritional sciences.

“Working with the food bank is a worthwhile opportunity for students to understand the concept of hunger,” Dart said. “These students donate their time which helps the food bank and, in return, gain understanding about what a food bank is and how it operates.”

Tickets to participate in Empty Bowls cost $25, but attendees can also “bump up” to a larger or more expensive gift bowls by donating an additional $30 to TAFB at the luncheon, Biggers said.

The silent auction will include items ranging from wine to Dallas Mavericks tickets, Biggers said, and the money raised will go to the TAFB.

Last year’s Empty Bowls event raised $70,000, Biggers said. This year, a larger luncheon with more bowls and food choices is expected to raise even more money to help the hungry, she said.

TAFB is a nonprofit organization that distributes all the money raised by Empty Bowls to 300 agencies in 13 North Texas counties stretching from the Red River to Stephenville, Biggers said.