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Pumpkin patch grows funds for cancer centre

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Jessica Durka’s experience with cancer is branded in her memory like a bad dream.

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As a silver lining, Durka came away from the experience with a first-hand understanding of the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton and what a vital resource it is in Ontario’s never-ending battle against cancer.

Following eight months of chemotherapy four years ago for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Durka began asking herself how she could pay Juravinski back for saving her life. She recognized that world-class facilities just don’t happen on their own; that they have to be tended to and nurtured like a finely-manicured garden.

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And then it hit her – pumpkins are hot this time of year and farmland is plentiful in Norfolk, so why not grow some, sell them, and give the proceeds to the cancer centre?

Durka’s fourth go-around began last Saturday at her father’s farm on the south edge of Waterford. Mark VanGoethem grew 3.5 acres of pumpkins at 710 Old Highway 24 this summer, and Durka says they are spectacular.

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There’s an unusual number this year that are the size of a basketball or bigger. And their rich orange colour means they got plenty of sunshine and heat units since spring.

“When I went into remission, we decided we wanted to give something back,” Durka said. “We donate every single dollar to the cancer centre. Since I’ve been in remission we’ve donated nearly $60,000. Last year it was $23,000. It was pretty awesome.”

Pumpkins will be available until Saturday, Oct. 24 or until they sell out. Large ones are $7 while the more modest ones are $5. The fundraiser also includes the sale of dried corn stalks, straw bales, gourds and other home-decorating items popular at this time of year.

For his part, VanGoethem noted that Waterford’s Pumpkinfest next month is still a go with a modified format due to COVID-19. A popular event still on the agenda is the town’s home-decorating contest, a happening that brings hundreds of tourists to town through the fall season. VanGoethem says now is a good time to start decorating, knowing that the proceeds are for a good cause.

VanGoethem says he grows and cultivates the patch because his daughter “has been through a lot.”

“She went to hell and back, and this is what she wants to do,” he said.

Durka says the effort is appreciated.

“I like to share my story because people with cancer need to know there is hope,” she said. “I feel amazing.”

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