MT. ARARAT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS carved hearts in 300 pumpkins Thursday, raising $3,000 for Camp Sunshine. Below, Gabby Mason, Amr Aboulhosn, guidance councilor and field hockey coach Krista Chase, Bethany Pratt and Nathan Emerson carve pumpkins at Mt. Ararat High School Thursday.

MT. ARARAT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS carved hearts in 300 pumpkins Thursday, raising $3,000 for Camp Sunshine. Below, Gabby Mason, Amr Aboulhosn, guidance councilor and field hockey coach Krista Chase, Bethany Pratt and Nathan Emerson carve pumpkins at Mt. Ararat High School Thursday.

TOPSHAM

Hundreds of Mt. Ararat High School students sliced, carved and scooped out 300 pumpkins Thursday— all in an effort to help children with life-threatening illnesses.

 

 

The event is led by the school’s Interact Club and National Honor Societ. It benefits Camp Sunshine in Casco, a year-round retreat providing free respite, support, joy and hope to children with life-threatening illnesses and their immediate families.

Camp Sunshine includes 24-hour on-site medical and psychosocial support, as well as bereavement groups for families who have lost a child to an illness.

The 300 freshly-carved pumpkins are headed to L.L. Bean in Freeport, where the Camp Sunshine Pumpkin Festival kicks off at noon Saturday. Pumpkins will be on sale that day to benefit the camp, and people can also go campsunshinepumpkinfestivals.org to donate $10 to sponsor a pumpkin.

Organizers of the 15th annual Camp Sunshine Pumpkin Festival anticipate there will be a total of 10,000 jack-o-lanterns Saturday. The celebration includes music, a costume parade, pumpkin carving and games.

Organizers hope to raise $75,000 for Camp Sunshine.

Students making a difference

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Mt. Ararat senior Abby Kons, president of the Interact Club, said the club is community service-oriented and goes wherever it is needed. The group holds food drives and raises money throughout the year for different causes.

Mae Flibotte, president of NHS and an Interact Club member, said NHS members work to set an example in the school and often work with Interact Club on projects like their annual Cram the Van food drive. “We all want to get involved in the school,” she said.

Mt. Ararat is good at providing these type of leadership experiences and many students get involved in the community as well, Flibotte said.

Students look forward to the annual pumpkin carving, and Filobotte and Kons hope it will also get students thinking about joining Interact Club and NHS.

dmoore@timesrecord.com


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