CRESTVIEW — St. Mark United Methodist Church has additional funding for student ministries following its annual pumpkin patch benefit, volunteers said.
Area students visited the patch throughout October. Like in previous years, the church ordered pumpkins from a Native American reservation in New Mexico.
Volunteers haven't tallied their collections, but said they initially received donations for 15,000 pumpkins.
In addition to selling pumpkins, the church facilitated games, story time and crafts.
"We have had all of the kindergarteners in this area (visit us)," volunteer Amy Valle said. "The teachers love it because we only (charged) $5 for their students."
Several parents, including Quanisha Patrick, the Riverside Elementary School PTO’s community involvement coordinator, chaperoned.
Patrick, who visited the patch with her 5-year-old daughter, Rielle, said the trip marked a first for her.
"(I’d) never been to a pumpkin patch,” she said, adding that she appreciated that “the church loves the community enough to do something like this.”
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: St. Mark’s pumpkin sales support student ministries