Clifton Lutheran Church held its annual pumpkin patch sale on Saturday, Sept. 23. The event has been an introduction to the fall season for Marblehead residents since 2017, as families have come to pick out autumn pumpkins. While the festivity is a great fundraiser for the church itself, it benefits a community all the way on the other side of the country.
The church purchases all the pumpkins through a program in New Mexico which employs more than 700 Navajo Native Americans. Recreation and Parks Commission member Karin Ernst has been involved in the church for a number of years and currently serves as its treasurer. She was the catalyst for proposing this partnership with Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers in 2017.
“I approached the church council and I said ‘I have what could be a really great idea or a horribly bad idea,’” Ernst said. “They thought I was nuts but gave me permission to try to do it. And the first year was just so much fun.”
All the pumpkins are harvested on a Navajo reservation in Farmington, N.M., a region with a current unemployment rate of 42%. Pumpkins USA has been providing employment to Native Americans for more than 20 years with its Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, as it harvests and transports pumpkins to business partners nationwide.
“For many of our workers, it’s the only opportunity to provide for their families and themselves,” Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers Human Resources Director Harry Descheene said in a press release. “The approximately $1.3 million in harvest labor makes a significant difference in the quality of the lives of my people. Opportunities like this are very scarce on our reservations.”
Ernst explained that Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers has a very unique and customer-friendly business model, which includes complimentary loading and transportation. A 53-foot truck arrived at the church on Saturday morning, filled to the brim with pumpkins.
The church then sends Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers a check from the sales they earned selling the gourds to Marbleheaders.
“The church gets 25-40% depending on how many pumpkins we sell,” Ernst explained. “And the pumpkin patch gets the rest. Which is the opposite of what usually happens.”
The only stipulation for the church is that there is no returning any unsold pumpkins, but Ernst does not worry about that any longer due to the event’s popularity.
“The community just has really enjoyed having this pumpkin patch here,” Ernst said. “Every year it’s gotten bigger and bigger… We’ve sold out every single year except for one year.”
Ernst emphasized her gratitude for the assistance she has received from students from Marblehead High School, Veterans Middle School, and scouts from Marblehead Troop 79 in unloading and organizing the pumpkins. The church will be receiving another half-load of pumpkins in October and sees no end in sight for its partnership with Pumpkins USA.