Maple's Miracle Pumpkins

[dogwoodmaple 380]

When last November hit, Dogwood Maple did what many other people do when the 11th month starts - he packed up all his Halloween decorations and was about to throw his Jack-O-Lantern in the trash, when a sudden urge hit him. For some unknown reason, he decided not to cast the pumpkin into his garbage.  Instead, he hauled the large orange orb to his backyard and threw it near one of the corners of his property, certain he'd never see it again.  

 

"I mean I didn't water it, I didn't pick any weeds away, nothing. I just threw it down and left it there.  And the way my yard is shaped, you can't really see that corner unless you're really looking for it, so it was just completely 'out of sight, out of mind.'  But in late September this year, I was doing some work in the yard and when I turned the corner, I couldn't believe what I saw.  It was an entire pumpkin patch. There were maybe half a dozen fully grown pumpkins just sitting there.  I was shocked," Maple explained. 

 

Apparently, the pumpkin he had thrown out the previous year was rife with seeds and the combination of that, the rich Vancouver soil, and the rainfall last year resulted in this Halloween Miracle for Maple and his family.  He decided he would use one for his family to carve and display on their front porch, but saved the rest for a worthy cause.

"I've been working with children's hospitals in the Vancouver area lately, especially the oncology patients, and I knew this would be a great opportunity to try and bring some joy to those folks.  So me and some teammates loaded up the remaining pumpkins and went around to some young children who are battling cancer and dropped off the pumpkins, some carving kits, and some goodie-bags of sorts.  We know how tough those kids are and wanted to do whatever we could to bring a smile to their faces."

What Maple didn't tell our reporter was that included in those goodie-bags was a promise to pay for all of the treatments for those children.  The parents were in disbelief when they found out and some thought it was some sort of sick joke.

 

"[Maple] left a number in one of the bags to call to secure payment for the treatments, but I was convinced it was a spam number.  I called it and his agent picked up and knew exactly who I was and what was going on.  I couldn't believe it," one anonymous parent told us.

 

When asked why he decided to do this, Maple's answer was clear and concise.

 

"Look, I get paid all this money to play a game for a living.  I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world and a lot of folks are struggling. I don't know how big of a difference I can make, but I figure if I can impact even a few people each year then I'm going alright.  So much stuff gets taken for granted and I never want to be in that crowd," Maple said.