
Chris Abbott
Jessica Durka and her husband James had good reason to start their Juravinski Cancer Centre pumpkin fundraiser in Waterford seven years ago.
“With the state of the art Juravinski Cancer Centre, they saved my life and I’ve been in remission almost seven years now,” said Jessica.
This year, Austin’s Pumpkin Patch is continuing the fundraiser – with new organizers and volunteers - holding its grand opening at 2587 Cockshutt Road, northeast of Waterford, on Sept. 28. It will be open until Oct. 27.
“Originally, my husband (James) and I started this fundraiser seven years ago as Our Journey of the Juravinski Cancer Centre,” said Jessica, a survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, now living in Simcoe. “Really, it’s been the Norfolk-Haldimand community, we’re only a few miles from Haldimand, but we also get a lot of people from Hamilton, Ancaster and Brantford just to buy their pumpkins.
“You’re going to get a pumpkin – we have pumpkins on every corner – but how cool is it that you can give back while you buy your pumpkin? Some people even come just to make a donation, and not even take a pumpkin.”
“It’s heartwarming,” said long-time volunteer Lynda Van de Waal from Port Dover.
The Durkas ran the fundraiser at their family farm for five years and raised more than $250,000 – selling pumpkins, cornstalks, porch packages, all donated by local farmers, with help from people and volunteers.
“Everything we get is donated to us.”
All proceeds went to Hamilton’s Juravinski Cancer Centre.
Two years ago, the family sold their farm and told everyone they were retiring the pumpkin patch.
Plans changed, however, when one of Jessica’s volunteers approached the Sloot family in September 2023 about hosting it.
“They’re very good friends, the Sloots, and they said ‘yes, that’s a fabulous idea,’” said Durka, who helped volunteer Kim Smith connect with donors and pumpkin providers. “Last year they raised around $22,000-$23,000, which is amazing for a pop-up, and now have fully taken it over.”
Now, as volunteer and cancer survivor, Durka helped at the Sept. 28 grand opening with two other cancer survivors, Vittoria’s Marlene Topper and Van de Waal.
“Probably 95 per cent of the people that came here today are all cancer survivors,” said Durka. “They came to tell their stories. It’s like a place to heal. I would say one of the best things about starting this fundraiser is that it helped me heal quicker… because I wasn’t as afraid, I didn’t feel so alone.”
“It is that way,” nodded Van de Waal, a cancer survivor for 25 years.
“I worked at the same company with Jess and Marlene. Originally, I was asked if I could make bows for the porch packages. When the pumpkin patch opened, they said ‘Could you volunteer Saturday and just help out?’ And it’s been going since then.”
“They (Topper and Van de Waal) were my right arms for a long time,” Durka nodded.
“It used to be every Saturday, but this year we’re doing just this Saturday, and there will be another cancer survivor every Saturday after that,” said Van de Waal.
“Our first year we raised $12,500 and we thought we hit the lottery,” Durka recalled. “My dad grew the pumpkins and my husband and I were pulling the pumpkins out of the field from the back of our truck… hundreds. That’s a lot.
“My arms still hurt from those days,” she laughed.
“Then it just snowballed. It just grew into this massive work… the community just couldn’t give enough. The community wanted to be part of what we were doing.”
Toyotetsu Canada is a big contributor to the fundraiser, ordering 1,200 pumpkins this year, donated and delivered by Scotlyn Group. Toyotetsu then makes a donation directly to Juravinski Cancer Centre.
“It’s about a $6,000 donation they give – it’s pretty awesome.
“What is cool is that I can go walk around the hospital, the Juravinski Cancer Centre, and physically touch the equipment we purchased – and I can share that with the community. We have pictures that show what we are raising the money for and where in the cancer centre we’re going to make a difference.”
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