Give Gourdness

A small-scale community-based experience.

A small, but meaningful community project conceived of and executed during fall of the 2020 pandemic to bring joy and connection into the lives of people in the Leominster, MA community. Visitors to the Gardeners' Spot nursery and farm on the first Saturday in October were encouraged to look for small paper pumpkins hidden around the property. Those who found an origami pumpkin took home a real pumpkin decorated with a goofy face. They were then encouraged to share the smile that experience created by decorating their own pumpkins and leaving them on the porches of friends and family, along with a ready-made note encouraging the recipients to do the same for someone else.

"Give Gourdness" project gallery.

A small orange pumpkin with googley eyes and a painted on vampire face, sitting next to a note encouraging people to leave pumpkins for each other.

An orange paper origami pumpkin with a black paper witch hat sitting on a black tag that says #GiveGourdness

Small pumpkins with googley eyes and silly faces sitting on stone porch steps.

A table covered in small pumpkins with googley eyes and silly faces.

A woman with long brown hair adding ribbons to decorated pumpkins.

An assortment of paper origami pumpkins in oranges, yellows, and whites, wearing red, purple, and black paper witch hats and smiling with drawn-on faces.

Special thanks to the Gardeners' Spot in Leominster, MA for supporting this idea and for donating the pumpkins.