Giant pumpkins carved to help CancerCare Manitoba
Giant pumpkins are once again helping raise funds for CancerCare Manitoba.
The Pumpkin Promise fundraiser has returned for its 11th year, with multiple giant carved pumpkins on display on Baisinger Drive in Winnipeg.
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Winnipeg newsletters
Chris Okell founded the Pumpkin Promise as a tribute to his mother Marietta, who died in 2010 from pancreatic cancer.
“We were a big Halloween family, and she just loved giving back to the kids,” he said.
The giant pumpkins come from Manitoba growers who participate in the Roland Pumpkin Fair. They range in size from 400 lbs to just over 2,000 lbs.
A giant pumpkin carved in Winnipeg for the Pumpkin Promise is seen on Oct. 28, 2024. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg)
“When they kick in, they grow anywhere between 40 to 50 pounds a day,” Okell said.
People come by to see the pumpkins and donate money to CancerCare Manitoba. Okell said this year, he’s hoping to raise $6,000.
He added that people from around the world have come to see his pumpkins.
A giant pumpkin flanked by several smaller ones carved in Winnipeg for the Pumpkin Promise is seen on Oct. 28, 2024. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg)
“This event has even reached Ireland. The other day, it reached Calgary. It's just, unfortunately, someone gets touched by cancer, so I'm just trying to do my part for as long as I can.”
More information about the pumpkins can be found online.
-With files from CTV's Joseph Bernacki
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ottawa has sold its stake in Air Canada: sources
Two senior federal government sources have confirmed to CTV News that the federal government has sold its stake in Air Canada. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the government purchased a six per cent stake in the airline for $500 million as part of a bailout package.
Premiers disagree on whether Canada should cut off energy supply to U.S. if Trump moves ahead with tariffs
Some of Canada's premiers appeared to disagree with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on his approach to retaliatory measures, less than a day after he threatened to cut off the province's energy supply to the U.S. if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat of punishing tariffs.
She took a DNA test for fun. Police used it to charge her grandmother with murder in a cold case
According to court documents, detectives reopened the cold case in 2017 and then worked with a forensics company to extract DNA from Baby Garnet's partial femur, before sending the results to Identifinders International.
Travis Vader, killer of Lyle and Marie McCann, denied day parole
The man who killed an Alberta couple in 2010 has been denied day parole.
McDonald's employee who called 911 in CEO's shooting is eligible for reward, but it will take time
More than 400 tips were called into the New York Police Department's Crime Stoppers tip line during the five-day search for a masked gunman who ambushed and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.
Man who set fires inside Calgary's municipal building lost testicle during arrest: ASIRT
Two Calgary police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in an incident that saw a suspect lose a testicle after being shot with an anti-riot weapon.
Country star Morgan Wallen sentenced in chair-throwing case
Country music star Morgan Wallen on Thursday pleaded guilty to two misdemeanour counts of reckless endangerment for throwing a chair from the rooftop of a six-storey bar in Nashville and nearly hitting two police officers with it.
Weather warnings for hazardous conditions in parts of Canada
Canadians experienced contrasting weather on Thursday, from warmer temperatures in the Maritimes to extreme cold in parts of Ontario, the Prairies and the North.
Police say suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing wasn't a client of the insurer
The man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was not a client of the medical insurer and may have targeted it because of its size and influence, a senior police official said Thursday.