This year St. John the Apostle United Methodist Church will be celebrating it's 14th annual Pumpkin Patch. The proceeds from this patch are used to support our youth summer mission trips. SJA's youth have participated in many mission trips and have given their time to help others in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas, Mississippi, and Texas. Although they have learned how to make repairs to homes, paint exteriors, build decks, create wheelchair ramps, and landscape yards, their most valuable lesson has been the gift of giving to others.

All of our pumpkins come from a company called Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers. All prices are set by the Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers. The following is an article from their company posted here with their permission.

A LIttle Pumpkin Patch History

Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers began 31 years ago. A farmer (Richard Hamby) with some pumpkins met a Methodist minister with a need for funds. The farmer agreed to let the church sell the pumpkins and they would share the proceeds. There was no contract, no legal proceedings, just a handshake and trust in each other. Thirty-one years later, while the minister has moved on and the congregation has changed, Centenary United Methodist Church, Greensboro, NC is still doing a Pumpkin Patch every October to fund their goals.

Their suucess and loyalty allowed us to offer the project to more churches. This partnership has been the key element in our growth. Today, the PUmpkin Patch Family of churces and other non-profit organizations is made up of over 1300 locations, over 30 denominations, and various non-profit organizations (Habitats for Humanity, Boy Scout Troops, etc.) in 48 states and is still growing. Our partners in 2005 netter $3.6 million for their missions/projects; the relationship between us (we are still the farmers) and our partners reamin based on faith and trust. The majority of our locations measure their success with this fundraiser by the impact is has on their congregations and communities.

The concept of selling pumpkins to raise funds has evolved into so much more. In the hands of loving and caring individuals, these orange vegetables have changed lives. We are proud to have the opportunity to spend our lives doing something so rewarding.

In 1989, when Hurricane Hugo hit the east coast, our owners' pumpkins were destroyed; but they were committed to our partners to provide pumpkins; they went out far and wide and bought pumpkins to supply our partners. One of the places they bought from was on the Navajo Reservation in Farmington, NM - the pumpkins were beautiful. We entered into an agreement with the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry; we lease land and grow our pumpkins on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. The Pumpkin Patch pays for the land lease on the Navajo Reservation, seeds, cultivation, fertilization, pollenization, irrigation, labor, trucking, postage, communication, etc. in order to provide this no-risk opportunity to our partners.

Our partners do not pay for any pumpkins, not even damaged pumpkins or any that grow legs and run away - we share the profit on only the pumpkins sold.

You may visit the Pumpkin Patch Fundraiser website at www.pumpkinsusa.com.