Pumpkins of all shapes and sizes filled the tables in the HUB Multipurpose Room. Ranging from short and squat to long and oblong, some full of warts and others that fit neatly into the palm of a hand.
All of the pumpkins were grown in the Kipos garden near Whitworth off Lola Lane.
On Friday, Oct. 9, the Kipos Garden hosted a pumpkin painting gathering at 6 p.m., which was quickly filled with students painting pumpkins with various characters, Halloween motifs or simply creative designs.
The garden, which is run by student volunteers, produces beans, pumpkins, squash, various tomatoes and tomatillos, apples, asparagus, kale, Swiss chard, sunflowers, and many different kinds of herbs such as fennel, dill, mint, parsley and taro.
Sophomore Shelby Beedle painted her pumpkin as Frankenstein due to a small scar on the surface.
Beedle was excited to paint, but was also enthusiastic about the cause.
“It’s really exciting to see the Kipos garden getting involved in campus and being on campus, where we can come and support them, and the money stays here so that’s really nice,” Beedle said.
Senior Kiersten Signalness organized the event, and has been involved with Kipos and is the ASWU Sustainability Coordinator.
“I really want people to realize that the Kipos garden exists, and that we actually have a lot of produce. So why not make it available to the public?” Signalness said.
Students were free to bring their own pumpkins to the event, but the ones from the garden were sold at the event for people to paint. The money will go toward the garden and the Kipos club, Signalness said.
“Yeah, I told our garden manager that since [the pumpkins] came from the garden, I would love to raise money for the garden,” Signalness said. “Maybe we can brainstorm towards putting it toward Kipos, because Kipos is becoming a club this year.”
The group began as a club and, despite not being one last year, they are currently going through the process to become a club once more.
The Kipos garden reaches out through little events such as this, but also does other things to get involved in the community.
When there is surplus produce, like apples, Kipos takes them to Sodexo so that it can be used in some of the food, Signalness said.
Kipos is also working with organizations such as Second Harvest, a hunger-relief organization, and The Campus Kitchens Project, which is a program that provides meals for low- income families. They donate extra produce to these organizations.
Anyone who comes to help on a garden workday can leave with produce, as there is so much produce that they do not want to go to waste, Signalness said.
Junior Brittany Boring commented on how the event was a good way to bring awareness to the Kipos program.
“I think that the more that students see the things from the garden on campus…the more awareness can grow about the garden,” Boring said.
For students who are interested in learning more about Kipos, they meet Saturdays from 9:30-11 a.m., and can receive updates on the Kipos Facebook page.
Contact Meghan Foulk at [email protected]
