Pink pumpkins are back at Baton Rouge General’s campuses for its Protect Your Pumpkins campaign

A blush has fallen over all three of Baton Rouge General’s (BRG) campuses this morning, thanks to porcelain doll pumpkins. That’s right. The hospital’s annual pink pumpkin patches are back today, Oct. 2, with 5,000 free rosy gourds for the community to scoop up. 

The one-day, pop-up patches are part of BRG’s Protect Your Pumpkins campaign, which continues throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Along with one complementary pumpkin per person, attendees can enjoy photo ops, refreshments, treats and more. Additional pumpkins can be purchased for $10 each. 

Though the event doesn’t raise a ton of funds for the cause, it serves as a visual reminder for those ages 40 and older to schedule their yearly mammogram. As the pumpkins stud neighborhoods, leaving a flush on doorsteps and stoops, BRG staff hopes they stir up conversation about breast cancer awareness all month. 

“The whole month is focused on breast cancer awareness. And what better way to kick that off than with something so visual that engages the community so much,” says Katie Johnston, BRG’s director of communications. “Even just people coming out and using one of our photo ops, like the vintage truck or the giant pumpkin, and posting that on social media helps spread that message so much. And even if you bring your pumpkin home and put it on your porch, it could be a conversation starter.”

Though the pumpkins will be spread out across the Mid City, Bluebonnet and Ascension campuses, the setup at Bluebonnet Boulevard and Picardy Avenue is the largest with a 15-foot inflatable pumpkin, popcorn from Posh Pop, Espresso Geaux coffee truck, McDonald’s coffee and sausage biscuits, and more. There will also be caricatures, pink lemonade and balloons courtesy of Ambetter.  

“People stay a little bit longer than maybe they used to in the past,” Johnston says. “After the photo ops, they might stay longer because there’s just a little bit more for people to do.”

While it seems like the pink pumpkins grow overnight in BRG’s patches, planning happens a few months in advance. The evening before patches open, about 100 volunteers get to work setting out the pastel beauties for early morning attendees. Johnston says the added fee for additional pumpkins helps ensure they don’t all get picked up by the crowds that come before work and school. But she says most, if not all, will be swept up by the end of the day. 

“The pumpkin patches are so visual and so engaging, but really the heart of our message is how important early detection is,” Johnston says. “We really just hope that through this campaign, women are getting their mammograms and possibly lives are being saved.”

BRG has also selected three local breast cancer survivors—Lorretta Duplantis, Nancy Steiner and Alfredia Turner—as this year’s campaign ambassadors. These women will help amplify the Protect Your Pumpkins message by sharing their stories.

To find out more information, schedule your yearly mammogram and read more about this year’s ambassadors, head to BRG’s Protect Your Pumpkins website.

FIND THE PATCHES

Mid City Campus

3600 Florida Blvd.

Bluebonnet Campus

8585 Picardy Ave.

Ascension Campus

14105 Highway 73, Prairieville

Patches will be open all day until pumpkins run out.

Other local events, campaigns and fundraisers for Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

• Woman’s Hospital’s BUST Breast Cancer fundraising challenge 
• Raising Cane’s limited-edition plush puppy
• Mary Bird Perkins’ Geaux Pink campaign 
• Tanger Outlets Gonzales’ TangerPINK Kick-Off on Saturday, Oct. 4  from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.