Operation Pumpkin puts a smile on kids’ faces
October 28, 2011
Children’s faces lit up at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital as members of the community brought Halloween pumpkins to them.
The Kentucky Blood Center held Operation Pumpkin at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital Thursday, which focuses on providing an eventful Halloween for the children in the hospital.
“No child should go without a pumpkin during the month of October,” Gail Bennett, the WUKY marketing development director, said.
The Kentucky Blood Center, Orange Leaf and WUKY handed out foam pumpkins decorated by children of the community, along with candy, coloring books and a blank pumpkin that the children could decorate.
During the month of October, Orange Leaf asked children who visited the frozen yogurt restaruant to decorate pumpkins for the hospital children.
“We are trying to go above and beyond being simply a business,” Jason Thompson, an Orange Leaf operator said. “It is one more step to contributing to the community.”
The members of Operation Pumpkin visited multiple kids, two of whom were Blake Baber, 5, and Cassidy Blair, 4.
The children’s faces lit up as Stitch, the Wildcat mascot, and the members of Operation Pumpkin greeted them with pumpkins and smiles.
Blake told everyone he was going to “put a blue face, purple eyes, yellow dots and a green star” on his pumpkin.
Cassidy lit up when she was told she could pick out as much candy as she wanted.
“My favorite part about Halloween is the candy,” she said.
Bennett, Thompson and Jack Hillard, the Kentucky Blood Center representatives, served the community through Operation Pumpkin.
“We’re excited about this event and making others smile,” Thompson said. “We are certainly looking forward to be a part of this next year.”
Along with the month-long awareness, Operation Pumpkin will hold a Celebrity Pumpkin Auction Saturday, where pumpkins decorated by local celebrities will be auctioned off.
UK celebrities include men’s basketball head coach John Calipari, women’s basketball head coach Matthew Mitchell and football head coach Joker Phillips.
“To see the happiness in their faces means the world to us,” Bennett said.
