How many ways can creative chefs make potato soup?

Well, those with a good healthy appetite can discover some tasty and fascinating varieties Saturday at the fifth Empty Bowl Project sponsoredby the Old Mandeville Business Association.

And not just sweet potato, old fashioned or baked potato soup but a wide range of other soups, gumbo and chili will be available with proceeds going to The Samaritan Center helping fill holiday baskets and provide for other needs for less fortunate people in the Mandeville area. The event — the major fundraising charity project each year hostedby the Old Mandeville Business Association — will be from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on the amphitheater stage at the Mandeville Trailhead Cultural Interpretive Center located on Girod Street, two blocks south of U.S. Highway 190 in Old Mandeville.

Bowls are now available for pre-event purchase at Good Earth Market & Cafe, 821 Girod St. The handmade bowls cost $20, and those who buy them in advance are on the day of the event can fill them was as many types of soups desired during the hours of the event. Purchasers own the bowls and can take them home and soups are actually served in disposable bowls so owners won’t dirty their collector bowls.

Over the past five years the business association has donated more than $1,000 annually from the sale of bowls to The Samaritan Center, according to Rick Dennie, one of the co-coordinators of this year’s event. He along with association co-coordinators Richard Boyd and Paul Williamson have received commitments from 11 of Old Mandeville’s best known restaurants to donate vats of soup, gumbo and chili for the event. Among those donating are Good Earth, Juniper, Vianne’s, Broken Egg, Nuvolari’s, the Farmer’s Market (formerly French Market Produce), Sweet Daddy’s, Kickstand, Lucy’s, Maxien’s Coffee House and the Rusty Pelican.

“You will be enjoying some of the best food from some of the best restaurants in the New Orleans area when you buy an empty bowl and fill it at the event, and at the same time you will be making a strong contribution to helping needy families in the area,’’ said Williamson.

This year, 150 bowls have been created in a wide range of patterns and colors by Kelly Landrum-Hammell of Three Dog Pottery in Carriere, Miss., along with her assistant Terri Weisheit. Every bowl has a different design and color, making them all one-of-a-kind creations, said Dennie.

“We have fans of this charity fund-raising event who have come every year buying new bowls, and they have amassed a colorful collection of unique bowls and enjoyed fine cuisine while helping the unfortunate,’’ Dennie said. This year the business association, headed by President Ginger Fortson, has added a new feature. Those who bring canned goods in plastic bags to donate to The Samaritan Center can compete for donated prizes in raffle ticket drawings throughout the hours of the event.