WASHINGTON TERRACE -- Organizers hope a 1,300-pound pumpkin grown here turns into meals for thousands of hungry Utahns.
No, they aren't breaking out a dozen recipes for preparing pumpkin: Golden West Credit Union is asking the public to donate food equal to the weight of four giant pumpkins grown by Tyler Quigley and Matt McConkie.
The Mountain Green men have been growing the pumpkins since April and will compete with them today during the Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers Weigh Off at Thanksgiving Point. After the competition, the pumpkins will be placed in the lobby area of several Golden West branches.
"We are asking people to donate food to match the weight of the pumpkins," said Diana Windley, marketing director for Golden West. "So if a pumpkin weighs 600 pounds, we're hoping to fill a bin with 600 pounds of food."
The food drive will be held from now through October, Windley said. Donations will benefit Catholic Community Services and the Utah Food Bank.
Quigley and McConkie will compete with four pumpkins, but hope their 1,300-pound pumpkin will break McConkie's winning state record from last year.
"Last year, Matt's pumpkin weighed 1,169 pounds," Quigley said. "So we're hoping this one will be the biggest in the state again."
On Friday afternoon, a crane from Frayne Spens Construction arrived at McQuig's Farm in Washington Terrace to oh-so-gently lift the pumpkins into a trailer for a ride to the competition.
"Can you imagine lifting a 1,000-pound pumpkin?" Quigley said. "We've got 2 acres of land here that we've leased just to grow them. Each plant takes up to 750 square feet. It's crazy, but we're almost 99 percent sure we've got the winner."
The "smaller" pumpkins are approximately 900, 950 and 1,200 pounds, Quigley said.
Windley hopes the gigantic gourds will encourage people to visit the credit union, maybe have their picture taken and drop off some food while they're at it.
Last fiscal year, the Utah Food Bank provided 30.8 million pounds of food, the equivalent of more than 23 million meals, to Utah families and individuals. Windley said a recent study conducted by Feeding America found that 15.1 percent of Utahns are dealing with food insecurity in their homes.
Marci Valdez, executive director of Catholic Community Services, said the public has been extremely generous, but more food is needed.
"We are so excited about this food drive," she said. "It will be fun to see the matches come in, and we're very grateful to be the recipient."
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