Pumpkin Patch helps Fight Hunger
For its 15th year, the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township (PCCT) will raise funds to benefit two local non-profit organizations focused on tackling hunger and need. While the Pumpkin Patch fundraiser was virtual in 2020 due to pandemic concerns, this year the church will once again fill its front lawn on Southern Boulevard with colorful pumpkins and gourds to sell to the public.
“This all-volunteer effort is dear to our hearts and central to our mission,” said the The Rev. Dr. Ellen C. Clémot, Senior Pastor of PCCT. “Each year we donate 100 percent of the proceeds as part of our long-standing commitment to provide food and hope to those who are most vulnerable among us. We invite the community to join us by emptying the patch and filling plates for our neighbors in need.”
The Pumpkin Patch will begin Monday, October 11, and continue through the end of the month. The hours are: Monday – Friday, 2 – 6 p.m.; Saturdays – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sundays – 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
All proceeds will go to two local non-profit organizations, and be divided equally between them:
nourish.NJ in Morristown (formerly known as The Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center) creates lasting solutions to the problems of hunger, homelessness and poverty. It offers food, housing, work readiness, medical, social and educational services 365 days a year, free of charge, no questions asked. In 2020 it distributed 750,000 pounds of food.
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside, a member of Feeding America®, has been delivering food, help and hope across the state for more than 45 years. Last year it provided nutritious food for over 85 million meals through its network of over 800 community partners.
According to the Community FoodBank, in New Jersey 8.7 percent of residents were food insecure before Covid-19, a figure projected to rise to 13.5 percent because of COVID-19. For children in the state, the figures are 11.3 percent and 19.7 percent.
The pumpkins and gourds for the patch are obtained through Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, a non-profit organization that works cooperatively with the Navajo Nation in New Mexico to grow and deliver the pumpkins. This provides income for more than 700 Native Americans in a region with an unemployment rate of more than 40 percent.
