Shone Farm, part of the Junior College’s Agriculture Program, donated 120
absolutely enormous pumpkins- they weighed more than some of our first graders!
Last month was October, which means just one thing in the world of the CalSERVES VIP Fellow: Pumpkins! With almost 1,000 kids in CalSERVES afterschool programs, we had a whole lot of pumpkins to find. Local businesses and farmers were extremely supportive and offered us more pumpkins than we could even carve!
The donations started slowly, with farmers not sure what their crops would be like or how many pumpkins they could offer. However, it turned out to be a bumper crop; combined with a rainy final week of the month and shoppers staying inside, there were tons of pumpkins left over all around Sonoma County. We suddenly had to get to all of the farms, organize trucks for pickups, drive everywhere from Petaluma to Windsor to Forestville, and then pass out pumpkins and carving supplies.
Here, VIP Fellows Tyler Rockey and Gabby O’Neill
collect pumpkins from Oluf’s Ranches amidst much rain and mud.
All of the VIPs worked very hard bringing the pumpkins to our eight schools, and the carving days went off without a hitch. I got out to see Meadow View and Bellevue, and the kids were having a wonderful time. My favorite moment was when a girl at Meadow View looked into the Cool School room and saw the huge pile of pumpkins sitting on the floor. Her reaction: “WHAT?!?!”
The last week of October was the most insane and hectic of my time at CalSERVES so far, but it was all worth it to see the kids so excited. I’m just glad it’s November now!
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