Doctors swapped scalpels for carving knives Saturday at Coronado Country Club, where the 25th annual Operation Pumpkin fundraiser sold out its patio seating for the second straight year. One jack-o'-lantern fetched $700 at auction, another sold for $350, and every dollar raised is earmarked to clothe more than 80 children living at the Lee & Beulah Moor Children's Home.
The home's CEO, Renee Tanner, said the organization relies on community support and fundraisers, as reported by KVIA. According to the Lee & Beulah Moor Children's Home, this year's proceeds are earmarked specifically to supply a full year of essential clothing and footwear for the more than 80 children currently in its care. The home receives no state or federal funding and depends on community donations to cover daily living needs.
Tickets to attend in person ran $30 per adult 21 and older, covering wine and hors d'oeuvres, but patio capacity was capped at just 100 seats and sold out before the event, per a blog post from Desiree Nicole Luna. For those who couldn't make it to the country club, the home offered a $25 Pumpkin Patch donation tier, a micro-giving option that directly sponsors a single essential item for a child, such as new shoes, a haircut, or a graduation cap and gown.
Doctors Donate Their Time to the Cause
Among the medical professionals wielding carving tools was Tom Alost, an orthopedic surgeon who has participated in Operation Pumpkin for a decade. Alost said community members support children in need through the fundraiser, according to KVIA. Fernando Molina Berganza, a pediatric and fetal cardiologist, carved pumpkins at the event for the first time this year and said he plans to return next year.
Molina Berganza said the fundraiser brings the community together to help people in need, per the same KVIA report. Past pumpkin carvings have leaned into pop culture, with doctor-carved designs in recent years themed around Barbie, Taylor Swift, and television shows, the blog post notes.
A Quarter-Century of Fundraising Momentum
Operation Pumpkin has built real financial muscle over the years. The event raised over $50,000 in 2021, approximately $80,000 in 2022, and over $75,000 in 2023, the blog account states. The home offered sponsorship opportunities for this year's 25th anniversary event, and says 100 percent of proceeds from the live auction benefit children and families.
The home also holds a spring Walk/Run for Families in Crisis that raises money specifically for year-round food expenses, according to a listing on RunSignup. That event takes place annually on the home's own campus.
A Home With Deep Roots in El Paso
The Lee & Beulah Moor Children's Home traces back to a trust created in 1949 by philanthropist Lee Moor, and it officially opened in December 1959 on a 13-acre campus at 1100 East Cliff Drive, according to the El Paso County Historical Society. Moor stipulated that the home open only after his death and serve children regardless of race or religion.
Today the facility operates under Texas Department of Family and Protective Services oversight as a licensed General Residential Operation and Child Placing Agency, with the campus able to care for up to 70 children, according to Kids Over Profits. Beyond residential group housing, the home runs family support programs including foster care placements, adoption services, pregnancy counseling, tutoring, and recreational programs for children from infancy through age 17, according to research compiled by ERIC.
The home is the only children's home in El Paso. More than 30,000 children have passed through its doors. Board leaders, including Betty Moor MacGuire, have earned civic honors for decades of service to the organization.
