MISSOULA – Missoula’s Poverello Center’s Pumpkins for the Pov fundraiser continued on Saturday with a pumpkin pop-up party at the Good Food Store.
The pumpkins are grown off Mullan Road by a volunteer farmer using donated land and water and volunteers have harvested more than 1,200 so far this year. Each pumpkin is $10, and all of the proceeds go to feed the homeless and in need.
Every two pumpkins sold helps to feed and house one person for one day while every five sold will pay for the rental application fee for someone transitioning from homelessness to their own home. Every 10 sold helps to buy a week’s worth of gas for the Poverello Food Rescue truck, which gathers food from around Missoula to serve in the Pov’s soup kitchen.
The fundraiser has been going on for three years now and Poverello Center Executive Director Amy Allison Thompson says they are off to a good start this year.
“The event just seems to grow every single year and this year we have already exceeded our sales from last year. And so we’re really excited about that. I think people get excited about the fact that our pumpkins are grown here in Missoula,” Thompson added.
In the past, the pumpkins have only been sold online, but this year they are available in stores. You can find them until October 31 at the Good Food Store, the Rattlesnake Market & Cafe, The Trough, Missoula Family YMCA, and Imagine Nation Brewery.
-Lauren Heiser reporting for MTN News
