Pathfinders' pumpkin run departs Armidale

"A lot of people are actually coming and grabbing the pumpkins that are sitting here today," said Ms Butler, a community development worker with Tamworth Family Support Service (TFSS).

"It's amazing, everyone's got an orange bag and a pumpkin or two that they're taking home with them."

The 15 tonnes of pumpkin arrived in Tamworth on July 3, fresh from the Pathfinders' farm Tilbuster Station in Armidale where local children and teenagers had spent the previous six months cultivating the vegetable.

The giveaway is all part of the Pathfinder's annual pumpkin run, where they hand out the winter squash to the public, charities and other community organisations in need, especially women's, children's, and youth refuges.

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Their next stop on their journey is Soul Cafe in Newcastle before finishing up at Government House in Sydney, where 16-year-old Tenshion Booby and others from the group will be dishing out the pumpkins as soup and lasagne.

Mr Booby, an Armidale local with Pathfinders, helped grow the hardy winter vegetable at the farm, saying it was a long process and "exhausting" at times.

"But we got there in the end," Mr Booby said.

"We started growing them in October and November and we grew them right through to harvest time.

"And now we're handing them out, having meetings and loading it all up. It's a good experience for all the young fellas [with Pathfinders]."

CEO of Pathfinders Alan Brennan said the event is "about generosity" by giving back to the local community.

And about young people who are involved in the project "learning a lot about working together as a team", Mr Brennan said.

"But we see firsthand how people are struggling, and we know how hard this past year has been for a lot of families.

"Food insecurity has been on the rise over the past 12 months in Australia, and it is still rising due to the increased cost of living, and it's now impacting a diverse range of people."

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