Pumpkins and charity: Fall fundraiser fest draws hundreds to Jupiter's Harbourside

JUPITER — Princesses, pirates, ghosts and goblins flooded Harbourside Place on Saturday for the eighth annual Pumpkin Fest, where children and adults got a chance to get into the Halloween spirit while raising money for a good cause.

The community event raises around $70,000 every fall for the Chasin A Dream Foundation, a Jupiter-based nonprofit that assists children with life-threatening illnesses, and their families.

Ed Burnette and his wife Michelle Thivierge dressed their son Roman, 6, as Popeye, with a white sailor hat with blue stripes and strolled him through the festival in a rolling boat made of foam boards.

The Burnettes first connected with the nonprofit five years ago, when Roman was diagnosed with Down syndrome and was chosen to be a Chasin A Dream Warrior. The family has attended the Pumpkin Fest every since Roman left the hospital three years ago — Roman Burnette was featured in the Palm Beach Post's Season to Share fundraising effort in 2022 — and says it has become a tradition they look forward to every year.

"It means a lot for us to be here," said Ed Burnette, who donated 10 pumpkins for the patch. "For us it's a way to come and pay back for all the help that was given to us."

Lori Griffith, founder of the Chasin A Dream Foundation, says the annual fundraiser started in 2016 with a single line of vendors and had now grown to take over Harbourside Place with more than 50 vendors and hundreds of attendees. It took a year off in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Griffith said the event offers a unique opportunity for residents to meet the children and families the organization assists throughout their entire life.

“It's locals helping locals,” Griffith said. "I knew that if I could tell local businesses and people the stories of the local children that needed their help they would step up. And, they did."

Unlike other hot and humid years, families enjoyed a cool breeze Saturday as they strolled through the open market along stilt walkers. Parents sat in the central lawn watching performers sing and dance while their kids ran and screamed after each other inside the pumpkin patch.

Erin Walden, 34, moved from Colorado to Jupiter in 2022. This was her first year attending Pumpkin Fest.

Walden said the event introduced her to local artists, shops and brands. Her favorite was a craft beer called Tropically Impaired, offered along with other craft beer samples by vendor Islamorada Beer Company, based in the Keys.

“I didn’t know about the nonprofit and how it gets all these local vendors together,” Walden said. “It’s like a party but for a good cause.”

Children lined up to get their faces painted with orange pumpkins and spiders, princess crowns with a sprinkle of glitter in their hair, or fairy dust. Youngsters went up to every vendor to trick-or-treat and left with bags stuffed with candy.

Riley O’Keefe, 26, wearing gray wolf ears and paws, and her mother Teresa O’Keefe, dressed in a Red Riding Hood cape, oversaw the pumpkin patch at the center of the event, where parents let their children chose the pumpkin they would carve at home.

Riley and her mother have volunteered at the event since its inception.

Riley has been a Chasin A Dream Warrior since the age of 13 when she was diagnosed with a primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Since beating cancer, Riley says volunteering at the annual event is her way of raising awareness for the nonprofit.

“It’s community,” Riley said. “It's people helping other people while having fun.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Pumpkins and charity: Fall fundraiser fest draws hundreds to Jupiter's Harbourside