Solana Beach family’s Pumpkins for Good supports Community Resource Center

One crafty Solana Beach family has turned decorative succulent pumpkin arrangements into help for seniors in need at the Community Resource Center in Encinitas.

“It’s pumpkin season,” said Jennifer Stein of her busiest but best season, with the back patio of her home covered with pumpkins, succulents and moss, ready for assembly.

For the past four years Stein and her two children, Cooper and Madeline, now ages 13 and 15, have sold their festive fall arrangements with 100% of the proceeds going to purchase items for the CRC’s annual Holiday Baskets program, which provides food, necessities and gifts to low-income households.

The Steins hope to top last year’s Pumpkins for Good total of $4,600 and raise $5,000 to help make the holidays a little better and brighter for local seniors.

Pumpkins for Good aims to be an easily accessible way for people to give back to their community. As she has found throughout the years, Stein said many people want to help but they don’t always know how. Back when her kids were in kindergarten and pre-school, Stein was searching for a community volunteer project they could all participate in but ran into roadblocks with age requirements, “So we kind of just created our own,” she said.

The family started with a lemonade stand with all proceeds supporting Helen Woodward Animal Center. The lemonade stand and bake sale became very profitable and would turn into a giant play date in their front yard every June. But when the pandemic hit, the Steins were forced to change tactics.

The family had been introduced to CRC through their synagogue Temple Solel in Cardiff and in the past had donated homemade meals for the domestic violence emergency shelter. For the last 45 years, the CRC has assisted people facing hunger, homelessness and trauma, offering services like the shelter, a food pantry, counseling, housing assistance and more.

At first during the pandemic, the Steins started hosting drive-by donation drives, collecting needed items for the Holiday Baskets program from generous friends and neighbors at the end of their driveway.

As Stein had been making the succulent pumpkins for a few years, she got the idea to transition from a pure donation drive to selling the pumpkins and people getting something in return for their kindness.

“We buy all the pumpkins, which is our donation, plus our time,” Stein said of scouring stores such as Trader Joe’s, Ralphs and Walmart for the best selections. “We get all the succulents from friends and family.”

They are fortunate to live in an area where so many yards feature succulents and they have even reached out to the SeaWeeders Solana Beach Garden Club for donated clippings.

The pumpkins are sold for less than what they would be at a traditional retailer, they require minimal care and they last a long time because they aren’t carved. They offer delivery in North County San Diego or pick-up in Solana Beach.

“It’s like running a little business at this point,” said Stein of the project in which she and her children are all learning a lot from. They have learned about marketing on social media, digital flyers and Google order forms. Her daughter is involved in helping make the succulents and has been reaching out to local businesses to sell their pumpkins—Pumpkins for Good will have products for sale at Chino Farms in Rancho Santa Fe this year as well as Scend Fitness in Solana Beach.

Her son helps clip succulents and pick pumpkins and in the past his friends have gotten involved in helping assemble the gift bags. Last year’s gift bags for seniors included items such as non-skid fuzzy socks, a soft scarf, Band-Aids, dried fruit and candy, tea, a jar and bottle opener for hard-to-open items, a night light, large-print puzzle book and a grabber tool.

This year the CRC is doing things a little differently and will host a “dignity of shopping” experience for seniors where they can come and select items they need—Pumpkins for Good will be purchasing items from the wish list with their proceeds.

Last year, the Steins participated in a dignified shopping experience at Target with CRC —each family was given gift cards for each member of their household and the Steins were able to go around and help them pick out essentials, from pajamas to electric toothbrushes.

“It was a true gift to be able to participate, the kids still talk about it a year later,” Stein said. “It was really moving to see that and especially living here in North County, we’re really fortunate most of us but there is a huge part of our population that is really struggling…You never know when you’re going to need help. Everybody needs help at some point in their lives and help looks different to everyone.

This year in addition to their contributions from Pumpkins for Good, the Steins plan to attend the CRC holiday party for the seniors. The party will include the shopping experience as well as arts and crafts, which just happens to be their specialty.

To order, visit instagram.com/pumpkinsforgood