Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill's 28th Annual Pumpkin Patch

October 3-31, 2021;  ​3606 Seminary Rd, Alexandria, VA
HOURS: Mon-Fri  12:00 Noon-6 pm;  Weekends/Mon Federal Holiday 10 am-6 pm
No admission fee

​Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill hosts its 28th annual Pumpkin Patch fundraiser for charity.  

​The pumpkin patch offers all sizes of pumpkins grown by Navajo farmers, from small hand-held “spookies” to very large pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns; prices start at $1 and go up based on size.  Also for sale are beautiful gourds, delicious home-made soups and baked goods, and autumn-Halloween-themed crafts.

100% of Patch profits go to more than 25 local, national, and international charities that directly support feeding, housing, educating, and caring for our most vulnerable neighbors (for example, Carpenters Shelter, ALIVE community assistance, Christ Church/West End Lazarus Ministry, Grace Church Food Pantry, Bishop Walker School, Alexandria Neighborhood Health Services [Arlandria Clinic], Haiti-Micah Project, and many others). Learn more about Immanuel's outreach activities here. 
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“The pumpkin patch is a wonderful ministry for many reasons,” says the Rev. Randy Alexander, Rector of Immanuel. “The entire parish is involved. It’s our welcoming door to the community, and it gives us the resources to do God’s charitable work. It’s truly faith in action.”

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Special COVID Safety Information

Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill is committed to the health and safety of all visitors to our Pumpkin Patch.  While the Patch, as always, is all outside in the fresh air, we are also following Alexandria Health Department recommendations:

• Visitors and volunteers in the Pumpkin Patch are strongly encouraged to wear masks regardless of vaccination status – to protect everyone including children who cannot yet be vaccinated
• Options for touchless purchasing
• Reminder to stay home if experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild
• Hand Sanitizer available for use throughout

We have been certified by Alexandria’s Public Health Department under the "ALX Promise" program as committing to higher safety standards than the minimum rules required by law.

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Background and History

In what has become a local tradition for the past two decades, Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill offers pumpkins, gourds and seasonal foods for sale in October to help the charitable programs the parish supports.www.immanuel-on-the-hill.org/outreach.html

More than 20 non-profit organizations benefit from the proceeds from the pumpkin sale, including local charities such as ALIVE!, Carpenter's Shelter, Community Lodgings, and Child and Family Network Centers. International charities include Five Talents and the Haiti Micah Project. 

​100% of the net profits from the pumpkin sale are donated to charity.

The church works with Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers in North Carolina, a small company which consigns pumpkins to churches and non-profit organizations throughout the country. The pumpkins are sustainably grown on the Navajo Indian Reservation near Farmington, New Mexico -- supporting jobs on the reservation -- and are shipped throughout the country by semi-trailer trucks to participating churches and organizations. In its first year of sales in 1993, Immanuel received a shipment of about 1/4th of a truckload. In recent years, Immanuel received four semi-trailer truckloads.

​The entire parish community participates in the annual pumpkin sale.  On the first Sunday in October, scores of volunteers unload pumpkins from two 18-wheel semi-trailer trucks. Thereafter, volunteers will staff the patch for 10 hours each day until Halloween. Volunteers also make delicious soups, baked goods, and knitwear for sale.