For the Community Church of East Williston, its annual Pumpkin Patch sale of pumpkins for the Halloween season is a service to the community and a fundraising effort for the parish.
“By passing out the pumpkins, we are reaching out to the community. If we look at the pumpkins on our lawns we think about the kingdom of God we talk about,” said Forrest Parkinson, pastor of the Community Church of East Williston, during his homily at last Sunday morning’s service
The 10 a.m. church service preceded the kick-off Pumpkin Patch event on Sunday, which included a barbecue on the front lawn of the church, where the pumpkins were arrayed.
The church hopes to realize $40,000 from sales of the pumpkins this year, according to Parkinson.
Early Friday evening, 24 youth volunteers and members of the Boy Scouts helped unload 1,400 pumpkins of all sizes that will be on sale daily through Oct. 23.
“We get started in the spring,” said Lee Pfadenhauer, co-chairperson of the church project.
She said the church buys the pumpkins on a consignment basis from a cooperative farm in Mexico that grows the pumpkins for churches in the U.S. The cooperative gets 25 percent of profits from the sale of the pumpkins, Pfadenhauer said.
Parishioners and local residents clearly enjoyed the opening of the pumpkin-selling season for the East Williston church, as they browsed among the virtual sea of pumpkins on the lawn and ate hamburgers.
The church is seeking volunteers for the 100 hours of selling slots it has open weekly until the sale concludes.
Anyone interested in helping out can contact the church through its Web site at http://ccew.org/ or by phone at 516-0742-9690.
