Skip to content

Teen trio launches pumpkin drive

Cloverdale friends are selling pumpkins Saturday to raise money for BC Children's Hospital.
64679cloverdalewFixedFab3-2
These friends are Fab 3 Raising for Kids – BC Children's Hospital Foundation.

Three best friends are pulling together for B.C.'s sick kids by hosting a pumpkin drive at Cloverdale Athletic Park this Saturday morning.

Proceeds from the FAB 3 Raising for Kids sale will be donated to BC Children's Hospital.

It's a place Ashley Ausmus, Deveena Basi, and Moneet Gill are all too familiar with.

Over the years, the three Grade 11 Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary students have spent time there – either as patients themselves, or visiting one another.

"If you're there, you're really sick," notes Ashley, who says seeing other children with serious medical conditions has given the teen trio an appreciation for the important role BC Children's Hospital plays in the lives of many families.

"We all have a pretty good life. We want to help and do our part."

So last year, the three friends launched a bottle drive called Cans for Kids in support of BC Children's new building fund.

"We raised $557 just off of cans," she says.

This year, they want to beat that goal with the pumpkin drive.

Supporters in the community are already climbing on board.

"We got our local farms in Cloverdale to donate pumpkins to us," Ashley says. As of Thursday, they'd received 150 donated pumpkins and counting.

As well, their soccer coach is donating the use of a tent, in case it rains, and a local company is donating custom T-shirts.

The FAB 3 Raising for Kids pumpkin sale runs Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to noon at Cloverdale Athletic Park, in the parking lot off the 164 Street entrance.

It will be a festive, fun atmosphere, with free balloons, pins and candy, along with pumpkin, poster and banner sales.

This time, proceeds will go towards the purchase of new equipment at the existing hospital and items for children.