The Kansas Department of Agriculture is partnering with the Blue Valley FFA Chapter and Hy-Vee Manhattan to sell pink pumpkins in support of breast cancer research. The pink pumpkins will be for sale for $10 on October 7 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in front of Hy-Vee Manhattan at 601 N. 3rd Place. A pink pumpkin on your porch will show you stand with Blue Valley FFA and many others in the fight against breast cancer.
Blue Valley FFA partnered with Dwane Roth, a Kansas farmer from Finney County, to grow pink pumpkins. Roth planted the Porcelain Doll F1 pink pumpkin seeds this spring. Blue Valley FFA will be donating half of the proceeds to the Pink Pumpkin Patch Foundation and half to the Johnson Cancer Research Center at Kansas State University.
According to statistics from Centers of Disease Control, breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women. In 2014, more than 230,000 women and 2,000 men were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. The Pink Pumpkin Patch Foundation’s purpose is to unite in the fight against breast cancer with a pink pumpkin on every porch. Help spread the word and place a pink pumpkin on your porch this fall. The Johnson Cancer Research Center’s goals are to improve cancer-related research and education and to educate the public about cancer and cancer research, while providing scholarships and fellowships to improve students’ experiences.
The National FFA Organization provides students with paths to achievement through premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. The pink pumpkin event will allow students to demonstrate skills in customer relations, advertising, promotion, and merchandise displays through agricultural sales. FFA helps students to develop their unique talents and to explore their interests in a broad range of agricultural career pathways.
The Roth family has been growing the pink pumpkins for several years as part of their daughter Maggie’s Supervised Agricultural Experience program. Now that Maggie is attending K-State, the Roth family was pleased to find a new way to continue to support breast cancer research with FFA members.
For more information, visit pinkpumpkinpatch.org or cancer.k-state.edu. For questions, contact KDA’s From the Land of Kansas coordinator Lexi Wright at Lexi.Wright@ks.gov or 785-564-6755.