LINWOOD — A local rite of passage into fall is the arrival of thousands of pumpkins outside Central United Methodist Church, which sells them through October each year.
A tractor-trailer full of the orange gourds arrived Sept. 20, when volunteers were ready at 8 a.m. to start unloading the 8,000 or so fruits.
Pastor David Yun said the church has been working for years with the Navajo Nation, which grows about 1,200 acres of the gourds and ships them to multiple states in a partnership that benefits the farmers and non-profit organizations. More than 700 Navajo are employed through the process, which benefits a region where unemployment is about 42 percent.
Yun acknowledged the help of the Mainland Regional High School field hockey team, noting the girls soccer team helped out last year and did a terrific job. “A lot of our parishioners are here with their kids. It’s more like a community event,” he said.
The fellowship is welcomed by the church.
“That’s what’s important for us, that connection into the community,” Yun said.
Parishioner Karen McKinley of Upper Township said the pumpkins are priced by size, ranging from 50 cents to in excess of $25 apiece.
“They send the pumpkins to us on honor and what we sell, we keep a portion of that,” McKinley said. “The majority of the money goes back to the reservation.”
Yun said the church is one of the highest grossing partners in the country, making between $28,000 and $30,000 annually.
“I’ve been to the Navajo tribe and it’s very depressed there economically and sociologically,” Yun said. “Every bit helps.”
The stand is manned exclusively by volunteers, who are available nearly all of the time from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. There also is an honor box for those who arrive outside the normal hours.
The church uses its income to support missions and other activities.
Yun said the church has been selling the pumpkins for close to 20 years but he saw a turning point during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when numbers jumped because people could get out of their homes and socialize in an outside setting.
“We always had a lot of volunteers coming out on this day,” he said, but noted that more people are now willing to work the sales end.
Erin Davis, head field hockey coach at Mainland Regional High School, brought members of the team to help out.
“We have a couple girls here helping out today, doing a great job helping unload the truck and getting the pumpkins out,” Davis said.
She said while she is not a congregant, some members of the team are and they use the event as a team-building exercise.
“Giving back to our community is the biggest thing,” Davis added.
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
