Winnipeg’s Chris Okell has raised over $50,000 for CancerCare Manitoba Foundation with his “Pumpkin Promise” and lifelong passion for pumpkins.
The Pumpkin Promise began a year after Okell’s mother (Marietta) passed away from pancreatic cancer in November of 2010.
“I have been playing with these big goofy pumpkins for probably 30 years,” said Okell. “We always loved Halloween as a family and kids and now as bigger kids. One day, my mom saw a big pumpkin that was maybe 80 pounds or so on someone’s lawn. That’s when she fell in love with pumpkins. So she made me look for them and bigger ones each year. Well, that wasn’t exactly easy as you can’t just go to the local grocery store and find them.”
That’s when Okell researched and contacted the Roland Pumpkin Fair organizers. Unfortunately, Okell’s mother passed away before she could see what she created.
“About a year after she passed away, I was standing in my driveway looking at the two 1,000-pound pumpkins (from the Roland Pumpkin Fair) that were lit up and ready for the swarms of people that would come to see them. I just got a feeling inside all of a sudden and looked up at the sky and said, ‘Okay, Mom. What can I do?’ I was getting 300-plus people a year coming to see these big, beautiful pumpkins, so I had to do something.”
From there, the Pumpkin Promise was created in Marietta’s honour for CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.
“The very first year being unorganized, I raised only $60. But I was so happy I even raised that,” said Okell. “Then the next year, I made a call to CancerCare Manitoba to set up a meeting to see what they could do to help. They built me a website so people could donate online. And I have a Pumpkin Promise Facebook page that I use to promote the event. Some people donate right in my driveway at 39 Baisinger Drive in South St. Vital all month, but especially on Halloween day/night. I am in my driveway at about 8 a.m. on Halloween morning and stay there all day to visit with people who come by to see the pumpkins and collect donations.”
Year after year, Okell became amazed at the donations that came in. Every year, more money was raised than the last.
“This past year, we raised over $11,000 in a month’s time. I think to date, we have raised over $51,000 in nine years. I never put a goal out as it would have become a job, and I didn’t want that. This was something we loved, and I know my mom would have absolutely loved to see what we all have created from her love of Halloween and putting smiles on people’s faces.”
Okell has been going to the Roland Pumpkin Fair for many years now, and the organizers have even made him a judge with the pumpkins at the weigh-in.
“These people who donate the pumpkins were just strangers to me as I was to them when I was a young kid that just showed up looking for big pumpkins. Now, they are all family and have helped me in so many ways. I can’t say thank you enough. Without the growers and all the support I get, The Pumpkin Promise wouldn’t exist.”
Okell was honoured last November when he received the Queens Platinum Jubilee Award at the Manitoba Legislative Building. It was a humbling experience but one that Okell knows his mother would have been very proud of.
“I must say this again that without my family of growers and friends and the Roland Pumpkin Fair, this wouldn’t be a thing still happening ten years later,” said Okell. “These people who barely knew me have always stepped up to help and make a difference. I want to get the word out on that as I really don’t think they know or realize how much this means not just to me but now so many people from all over.”
All funds donated remain in Manitoba supporting an internationally recognized team of health professionals at CancerCare Manitoba who provide outstanding care for patients and their families.
The Pumpkin Promise can be checked out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pumpkinpromise
People can also donate via the CancerCare Manitoba website at support.cancercarefdn.mb.ca
