For more than a decade, the Pahrump Disability Outreach Program, also known as “PDOP” has provided support for children with disabilities and their families.
The nonprofit organization was founded by two parents of disabled children who eventually learned that there was no local support for families with disabled children in Pahrump at the time.
In order to provide support and assistance to those area families, the organization has for years hosted a popular autumn event known as “Pumpkin Days”, which served as a main fundraiser where parents and children take part in hay rides, face paintings, and numerous other activities, including frolicking in hay mazes, and inspecting area first responder vehicles.
Food favorites such as kettle corn and hot apple cider are also a part of the event.
Help is on the way
Though Pumpkin Days was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, officials from the Pahrump Nugget stepped up to help fill the fundraising void.
The Golden Entertainment property this week presented the organization with a generous donation of more than $3,500, much to the joy and satisfaction of PDOP President David Boruchowitz.
“It’s awesome and we are so excited about this donation,” Boruchowitz said during the presentation. “The Pahrump Nugget has always been a really good sponsor of ours, and they sponsored almost every Pumpkin Days event since we started PDOP. These funds are very important, especially in the light of COVID last year, because we were not able to do the event. Pumpkin Days is our primary fundraiser for the year, and this money will certainly help us in ensuring that we can push forward and not fail.”
Focus of funding
Boruchowitz also made certain to speak about exactly how the donations will be used.
“All of the funds we generate support our social groups, programs, and assist with the medical needs of children in the community,” he said. “Obviously, they also support the continuation of the program into the next year. COVID-19 put us at a standstill last year just like everybody else. The one thing it didn’t stop is our advocacy and as you can imagine, with their schools being remote, special needs children had a lot of additional needs so we were very busy last year representing families at their Individualized Education Program meetings. We have no paid employees, so all of our volunteers help to keep the program running.”
Change adds up
Golden Casino Group Marketing Manager Ja’nette White, meanwhile, explained how the monies were raised.
“The funds were raised by guests who just donated extra money,” she said. “Because we haven’t been accepting change at the cage, people who will cash out their tickets with a small amount of change can donate it to the cause.”
Ongoing program
Golden Casino Group Human Resources Manager Natasha Hamilton noted that the program got underway just last year.
“December of 2020 was our first donation and we donated funds to the Nevada Outreach Training Organization,” she recalled. “We don’t donate to the arts or anything like that, because we’re really focused on organizations and agencies who are helping actual families in need within the community.”
PDOP Pumpkin Days is scheduled to run from Friday, Oct. 22, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 23, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Ian Deutch Memorial Park, located at 1600 Honeysuckle St.
Admission is $5 per person, or $10 for a wristband to access the event throughout the weekend, according to the organization’s social media site.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes