GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Pinkn' Patch, a Grand Rapids-based nonprofit, put on a parking lot event Saturday, selling pink pumpkins to support families fighting breast cancer.
"You play the hand that was given to you," said Pinkn' Patch Founder Scott Packer, referencing the rain that prompted a last-minute venue change.
Days before the fundraiser, Packer called an audible, relocating from Sullivan Field to Chicago Beef Joint.
"It was going to be a mud pit," Packer said about the baseball diamond. "It would not have worked."
Beneath a cloudy sky, Pinkn' Patch turned the restaurant parking lot into a hot-pink farmers market of sorts, setting out pumpkins among racks of clothing and crafts. Local bands played from lunchtime into the afternoon.
"They could have canceled," Packer said. "But they all said, ‘No, man. It's about the cause.'"
For weeks in September and October, Packer took time away from work to spray-paint pumpkins by hand. Basing the operation in a Grand Rapids warehouse, the real estate appraiser and a team of volunteers planned to paint 20,000 in total, but poor weather cut into the painting schedule.
"We've made a dent in it this year," Packer said. "Something to grow on."
Despite the setback, Packer has no shortage of stories, including one about a father who volunteered at the warehouse. That morning, the man's daughter had received chemotherapy. Shortly after the treatment, she talked to Packer on FaceTime.
"It was really, really touching," Packer said. "You do all this stuff and you hope you're making a difference."
The money raised from the sale of the pumpkins — referred to as "Pinkns" — will support a program that provides simple services to families with breast cancer patients, including transportation to and from treatment, laundry and lawn care. Though still in development, Packer plans to make them available through an app.
"There's no asking; there's no waiting; there's no red tape," Packer said in a September interview with FOX 17. "When they need it, they get it."
The fundraising effort for Pinkn' Patch — supported by Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, among other sponsors — will continue through October, with pink pumpkins available for purchase at the warehouse on 635 Godfrey Ave.
"Bring it on," Packer said. "Any little bit helps; any angels out there, we could use a hand."
