the not-so-great pumpkins?

Gargantuan Heights pumpkin pile has some neighbors totally out of their gourd

Pumpkin patch or biohazard?

Image via ABC-13

A massive pumpkin pile in the Heights has neighbors divided: is it a beautiful display or a hazard?

The owner says it's a well-tended part of their urban gardening operation and thinks the city was mistaken in posting a notice stating the spectacle is a bio-hazard.

Homeowner Catherine Woodward says she stopped counting after collecting 900 pumpkins from neighbors and friends to keep them from going to landfills.

"You can see it's a huge volume of organic matter, and in landfills, this builds up as methane, and that is hazardous for the workers there and kind of in general. And I have a garden, and I use compost, and this works really well as compost, so before they go bad, I pile them up in my yard, and I enjoy them, but as they get older and get rotten, I put them in my compost pile, and they feed my garden for the future," Woodward tells ABC-13's Lileana Pearson.

In the mound is a mix of gourds, pumpkins that have been decorated by kids, and even an acorn squash that you find in your grocery store. But on Wednesday morning, she and her brother got a knock on the door from the City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods with a notice saying the pumpkins were a bio-hazard and had to go.

The pumpkin pile on E. 32nd Street in The Heights has caught the eyes of neighbors, who aren't as impressed.

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Continue reading this story, with video, on our news partner ABC-13.

Helping hand

ExxonMobil donates $3 million to Houston nonprofit that feeds hungry kids

Courtesy of Kids’ Meals

The 50,000-square-foot building will triple the size of Kids' Meals' headquarters.

At its annual Harvest Luncheon last week, Kids’ Meals, a a nonprofit combatting childhood food insecurity and hunger, received a huge boost: a $3 million gift from ExxonMobil. The gift makes a milestone for the organization.

“We are incredibly grateful to ExxonMobil for the generous $3 million donation, which is the largest corporate donation Kids’ Meals has ever received, both in size and in impact,” CEO Beth Harp said in a statement.

The nonprofit will use the gift toward its new campus, a 50,000-square-foot facility in Spring Branch. Kids’ Meals broke ground on the project in June.

The new building will nearly triple the size of its current headquarters, further helping Kids’ Meals achieve its goal of serving 26,000 children each weekday by 2031. The organization currently serves over 9,000 children every weekday through its 18,500-square-foot headquarters in Garden Oaks. The new building will carry Exxon-Mobil’s name.

“In establishing the Kids’ Meals ExxonMobil Campus, we will be able to expand our programs, reach more children in need, and make a lasting impact on the lives of countless families in the Houston area,” said Harp. “Together, we’re feeding the future and providing hope.”

Founded in 2006, Kids’ Meals serves children ages five and under, and is the only organization in the country that delivers free, healthy meals to the doorsteps of Houston’s hungriest children. Since its inception, the organization has delivered more than 14 million meals to children in 56 Houston-area zip codes. After delivering a record-breaking 2.4 million meals in 2023, the nonprofit is on track to deliver 2.7 million meals in 2024.

The Harvest Luncheon is the nonprofit’s biggest event of the year. The event raises funds to provide more than 500,000 meals for preschool-aged children. Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s daughters, Sarah and Whitney, chaired the event. Best-selling author Bob Goff served as keynote speaker.

Courtesy of Kids’ Meals

The 50,000-square-foot building will triple the size of Kids' Meals' headquarters.

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Helping hand

ExxonMobil donates $3 million to Houston nonprofit that feeds hungry kids