Every year at this time, the pumpkin patch appears in front of Friendship United Methodist Church on Springfield Pike, carpeting the lawn with orange. It’s a place where you can choose the perfect pumpkins, from the biggest to the smallest, for jack-o-lanterns, pies, or just a pretty decoration. You might not know, though, that each of those pumpkins came a long way to Wyoming…all the way from New Mexico, where they are grown on a Navajo reservation. And with every pumpkin you buy, you’re helping to make the world a better place.
Each year, the FUMC Senior High Youth Group takes a mission trip to a community in need, where they help with construction of public facilities or homes for underprivileged people. In recent years, they have travelled to places like Detroit, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. This year, the young people will visit the Navajo Reservation in Black Mesa, Arizona, and work rebuilding and repairing homes.
“Thirty percent of the people in the area live in poverty, without electricity or running water,” says Senior High Youth Director Carrie Short-Lippert. “We will be rehabbing homes, doing re-roofing, additions, flooring, siding, ramps for the elderly, etc.”
The Senior High Youth Group has been to Black Mesa before, in 2010 and 2014. They built houses (called hogans), made repairs, painted the cafeteria of the local school, put up drywall in the community center, and much more. “Our church has a long history of helping the Navajo people,” Short –Lippert says. In the process, the teens experience new surroundings, quite unlike the hills, greenery, and humidity of Cincinnati, while meeting people with a different cultural background, “then experiencing how similar we are—family is important, place is important, the earth is important and we are all in this together,” she continues.
The Friendship Pumpkin Patch is open daily until October 31, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., in front of the church at 1025 Springfield Pike. In addition to the pumpkin patch fund-raiser, the teens will cook and serve brunch on March 18 and April 15. But suppose you only need one or two pumpkins, but you wish to give more support? The church accepts tax-deductible donations as well. Checks can be mailed to Friendship United Methodist Church, ATTN: Carrie Short-Lippert, Senior High Youth Director, 1025 Springfield Pike, Wyoming OH 45215.
And long after the pumpkins are gone, the memories and the results of their hard work will remain. “Many of the teens count this as their favorite week of the year,” says Short-Lippert. “It is a fantastic experience for all involved.”
