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Pumpkins fundraiser will help Poverello Center maintain daily meals and pantry services in Missoula
Summary
Missoula nonprofit the Poverello Center is running its annual “Pumpkins for the Poverello” fundraiser this October; organizers say proceeds support the center’s kitchen, pantry and sack-lunch programs that serve people experiencing homelessness and other households in need.
Joel Baird, general manager of Missoula Community Access Television, hosted Stephanie Dolan, development director for the Poverello Center, and David Hefner, food programs manager at the Poverello Center, on a recent edition of Your Missoula to highlight the nonprofit’s October fundraiser, “Pumpkins for the Poverello.”
The fundraiser sells donated pumpkins for $10 each, with proceeds going to the Poverello Center’s food programs. “Every dollar from Pumpkins for the Poverello goes towards providing meals for our guests and helps us build a community where everyone has a safe place to call home,” David Hefner said.
Why it matters: The Poverello Center provides daily meals, a food pantry and sack lunches to Missoula residents. Hefner said the center serves more than 200,000 meals a year, including over 50,000 sack lunches distributed to people who cannot make scheduled meal services. Organizers said the pumpkin sales support the center’s ongoing ability to keep its kitchen and ovens operating.
Stephanie Dolan described how the fundraiser is organized this year: a new local grower, farmer Megan Fowle of the Bitterroot, donated pumpkins and volunteers harvested and packed them. The Montana Food Bank Network is providing storage space for pumpkins during October, and the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative is helping pick up and deliver pumpkins to local sellers, Dolan said. Sales locations named on the program included the YMCA, Rattlesnake Market, The Trough, the Good Food Store and Clearwater Credit Union branches on Brooks and Russell.
Event dates and community activities listed on the broadcast include Draft Works on Oct. 12 (noon–5 p.m., a painting party), Guild Brewery on Oct. 13 (5–8 p.m.) and Marr Bar on Oct. 27 (6–10 p.m.). Organizers encouraged listeners to visit the Poverello Center’s website for a full schedule and locations.
The broadcast also placed the fundraiser in the context of the Poverello Center’s history. Dolan and Hefner noted the agency recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and moved into its current West Broadway building in 2014. Hefner described rising demand for services in Missoula and cited factors such as rising housing costs and increased complexity of daily life that make it harder for some residents to maintain stability.
No formal government action or vote was part of the segment; it was a community media interview intended to raise awareness and solicit support for the Poverello Center’s food programs.
For more information the broadcast gave the Poverello Center website as thepoverellocenter.org and provided Missoula Community Access Television’s contact number for program suggestions.
