An autumn tradition of selling pumpkins to benefit the Juravinski Cancer Center is continuing this year at a new location.
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“We had done it for five years in Waterford, and once the Vangoethem Farm sold, the Sloot family said they would host it at their place,” said organizer Jessica Durka. “We’ve been doing pretty good here considering it was all last-minute, to pop up here and find donations in the community that made it possible.”
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This year’s sale is at Austin’s Farm Market at 2587 Cockshutt Road, located two kilometers south of the village of Boston.
Farm operator Andrew Sloot said his family had always sold “porch packages” consisting of pumpkins, corn stalks, bales of straw, and mums, and were happy to accommodate the JCC Pumpkin Patch Event because it’s a good cause.
“We have our own pumpkins here, but a lot of farmers are involved in donations to make this happen,” he explained.
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Peacock Farms, R. & A. Kukielka Farms, and Scotlynn have provided pumpkins for the sale while Kim Smith and her family donated corn stalks, with straw from Campbell Farms.
“Having a team is massive here,” Durka noted. “We couldn’t do it on our own.”
She noted that just under $250,000 has been raised for the Juravinski Cancer Center in Hamilton over the past several years.
“Our goal is $15,000 and I think we’re really closed,” Durka observed. “We’re hoping that anyone looking for an orange pumpkin before Halloween will come here so we can reach our goal.”
A board member of the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation, she said the money will be used to purchase vital sign equipment – at a cost of $5,000 each — for the stem cell transplantation unit at Juravinski.
“They are short of them in that unit specifically, and if we could do three machines, it would be incredible.”
The JCC Pumpkin Patch Event will remain open throughout this coming weekend, and as long as the pumpkin supply remains available.
Purchases can be paid for inside Austin’s Farm Market building between 9 am and 6 pm daily.
Outside of those hours, signage indicates how e-transfer payments can be made.
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