Monroeville church hosts pumpkin sales to help fund youth retreat

Patrick Varine, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·2 min read

Oct. 18—Each year, church leaders at Monroeville United Methodist Church send about 15 members of their youth group to "Current," a religious retreat organized by the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church.

And this year, community members can help raise money to send them while picking their Halloween pumpkins in the process.

The church has partnered with Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, which grows 1,200 acres of pumpkins each year through its own partnership with members of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Farmington, N.M. Founders Janice and Richard Hamby have been shipping pumpkins across the country since 1974 to churches and nonprofit groups. They take a percentage of the sale,s and the rest is used for fundraising.

"We want to make sure that everyone who wants to participate in 'Current' can do so," said youth leader Natalie Frydryck. "We do a cookie walk. We do some craft shows and some other fundraisers during the year."

This is the church's first year selling pumpkins, and their stock isn't just limited to the standard Connecticut field pumpkin typically used for carving jack-o-lanterns. There are flattened out Cinderella pumpkins that sport a slightly more reddish shade of orange. There are pale, chunky Jarrahdale pumpkins, as well as Galeux d'Eysines, a French variety that is covered in bumps, the result of extra sugar in the fruit.

Abigail Neubauer, 17, of North Huntingdon is a member of the church's youth group and attended "Current" in 2019.

"I really liked the atmosphere," she said. "It's all youth and we're all building our relationship with God and making friends along the way."

Neubauer picked out a small white pumpkin from the church's selection.

"I'm going to paint mine instead of carving it," she said.

Monroeville UMC's pumpkin patch will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Oct. 31 at the church, 219 Center Road in Monroeville.

For more, call 412-372-7474 or see MonroevilleUMC.org.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .