Without pumpkins to sell, Gator Smiles's fundraiser failed.
Gator Smiles is a UF service club that raises money for to pay for the surgeries of children overseas with cleft lips and palates.
Jasmine Garcia, vice president of the club, said a member of the club contacted the produce managers at two Publix stores to get 150 mini pumpkins at a discounted price, as the club has done the past two years.
But this year, she was informed the club would need approval from the corporate level, and the club was three weeks too late to do so.
"We probably would've been successful had Publix not changed their policy," she said.
But according to Dwaine Stevens, regional media and community relations manager for Publix, the donation policy hasn't changed.
In an e-mail, Stevens wrote, "We've had the same policy for many years. We would be happy to give consideration to a written donation request."
He wrote that it appears the club's communication with the two Publix stores was a "judgment opportunity" between the produce managers and the club.
The two Publix stores the club used in the past were the Williston Plaza Publix, 5200 SW 34th St., and the old Butler Plaza Publix, 3100 SW 35th Blvd.
Planned to run from Oct. 26 to Oct. 28, the fundraiser aimed to raise money for Love Without Boundaries, a foundation that provides palate and cleft-lip surgeries for orphaned, underprivileged children in China.
According to Garcia, the group previously bought the pumpkins at about 30 cents to 50 cents each and sold them on the Plaza of the Americas for $1. Colored sharpies were available for people to draw on the pumpkins and use them as gifts.
She did not know how much the group has raised for the foundation from past fundraisers, but she said the club has sold all of its pumpkins every year.
Gator Smiles contacted Rogers Farm and a vendor outside the Walmart on Archer Road to get some pumpkins.
Rosa Jones, a worker at Rogers Farm, said the farm had already given away more than 6,000 mini pumpkins to children 12 and under in the area, and that there wasn't any more to sell.
She added that the farm's crop had been planted too late in the season this year, and it bought pumpkins from other sellers in order to meet its needs.
The vendor could not be reached for comment.
Instead of pumpkins, the club bought big bags of candy, separated them into smaller bags and attempted to sell the bags at $1 apiece.
"Nobody was stopping to buy them," Garcia said.
The club returned the leftover candy.
Next year, Garcia plans on leaving an event tip sheet for the new officers.
