Kids of all ages from all over the nation, stopped by the Operation Pumpkin booth at Keeneland Saturday to decorate pumpkins that will be handed out to kids who will spend their Halloween in the hospital.
"I wanted to make my pumpkin so the kids would kind of feel better," says Kylie Guy of Ironton, OH.
"I thought it was a good idea to do this because the kids in the hospital maybe feeling depressed that they can't go out and trick-or-treat so these pumpkins might be able to cheer them up a little bit," explains Jaden Seman of Pittsburgh, PA.
"I wanted to make the pumpkin for the children in the hospital because I thought they would like it," comments Corinne Sharrard of Lexington.
The Kentucky Blood Center, WUKY, UK Healthcare, OrangeLeaf and ABC 36 are proud to sponsor Operation Pumpkin. Not only is it to provide some happiness to kids in the hospital, but also to make people aware of the importance of donating blood.
"We always have to be attuned to a new generation. It's our teaching moment that maybe, someday, they'll be a blood donor," explains Jack Hillard with the Kentucky Blood Center.
Operation Pumpkin will culminate with a fundraiser, "Halloween in Gratz Park" this Friday at 8 P.M.
"We're going to have the Johnson Brothers there, some great food, hopefully some very interesting costumes. It's always best to come dressed to impress or frighten. We're going to have some contests for best dressed and maybe scariest and weirdest. We have had some local celebrities decorate some pumpkins for us. Some well-known coaches have decorated some pumpkins for us and we're going to auction those off and raise some more funds," comments Robert Claborn with WUKY.
The proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Kentucky Blood Center. For more information on the fundraiser or to buy tickets, go to
www.kybloodcenter.org/operation_pumpkin.php
