With a matching donation campaign underway, The Great Pumpkin Challenge is gearing up to light up Main Street on Saturday, October 31.

Representatives of the Hole In The Wall Gang Camp and Life Is Good gathered at 14 Main Street, the home of the Great Pumpkin Challenge and its creator Mackenzie Page, on Friday, October 30, while many people were dropping off pumpkins.

It was the second day for pumpkin collection hours for the 2015 Great Pumpkin Challenge campaign, and many people stopped by to show support and add a pumpkin to the growing collection. With games laid out, refreshments being served, and a general party atmosphere, many also stayed to enjoy some time outdoors on the sunny autumn afternoon.

The Great Pumpkin Challenge , when Mackenzie was in eighth grade. She was inspired to support a family friend, Zoe McMorran, who was diagnosed with brain cancer.began four years ago

That first year Mackenzie challenged residents to carve a pumpkin, drop it off to display at her 14 Main Street home before Halloween, and offer a suggested donation of $5. That year Mackenzie raised money both for the American Cancer Society and for Zoe's family. Since then, money has been raised for Paul Newman's Hole In The Wall Gang Camp.

Carved pumpkins and donations will be collected Saturday, October 31, between 9 am and 2 pm. All pumpkins will be lit up for trick-or-treating festivities on Main Street in the evening.

This year may be the final year for The Great Pumpkin Challenge. Mackenzie, now a senior at Newtown High School, will head to college next fall, but her hopes that this will be the biggest year yet for the challenge seem matched by the support the campaign is rallying.

Thanks to a number of donations and fundraising support, this year’s Great Pumpkin Challenge is likely to surpass the fundraising levels of the last four years of the campaign combined.

By 4:30 pm on Friday people were pulling up to drop off single pumpkins or to donate to the effort. 

Mackenzie welcomed many people as they arrived.

Actress and Hole In The Wall Gang Camp board member Bridget Moynahan and Ryan Thompson, the camp's chief communications officer, also met with people as they stopped by. 

And fresh from a 60 day tour to "GROWtheGood," Life Is Good Co-Founder John Jacobs stopped by to support the event. Mr Jacobs said the tour, like his company, aimed to shine a light on heroes of optimism. Mackenzie, he said, is one of those heros.

Life is Good, Mr Jacobs said, supports companies that do good work for kids. Mr Jacobs said he is very aware of the "incredible work the Hole In The Wall Gang Camp does," and his company partnered with the camp to support those efforts. The more Life is Good can spread stories of optimism, Mr Jacobs said, the more it spreads.

"We believe that what you focus on will grow, and Mackenzie is a hero to us," said Mr Jacobs. 

Mackenzie, Mr Jacobs said, was inspired to help her friend in a way that honored her friend's strength and courage, and in the process Mackenzie "lifted up the community" too.

"That's powerful, especially coming from so young a woman," Mr Jacobs said.

Ms Moynahan also said she was impressed, adding the event represents, "two companies coming together to celebrate this wonderful impressive young woman."

Mr Thompson said he has known Mackenzie since near the start of the Great Pumpkin Challenge. 

"She is just so full of energy and enthuisiasm, and has just a big heart... You can see it when she smiles," said Mr Thompson, with Mackenzie just behind him greeting more arrivals with pumpkins in their arms.

Last year's Great Pumpkin Challenge raised $3,014 for the Hole In The Wall Gang Camp. Overall, the first four years of the challenge raised $14,800 for different charities, and $9,365 of that went to the camp, according to Mackenzie.

This year her challenge spread.

After Mackenzie participated as a co-chair for the 2015 Travelers Championship this past summer, she learned at the start of October that the PGA tour event that donates 100 percent of its net proceeds to charities would be giving over $15,000 to the Great Pumpkin Challenge to donate to the Hole In The Wall Gang Camp.

The Life is Good company also donated $5,000 to the cause and announced this week that it will donate up to $10,000 more to match each dollar raised by the Great Pumpkin Challenge donations.

Edible Arrangements Vice President for Business and resident John Boccuzzi stopped by Friday with a donation of $1,903 from his company, representing donations by employees, he said. Mr Boccuzzi also offered words of encouragement for Mackenzie. He was also one of many people who paused to marvel at the pumpkins arranged on scaffolding.

Mackenzie also announced on the Great Pumpkin Challenge of Newtown Facebook page that Positive Tracks, a non-profit organization based out of New Hampshire, has also announced it will double donations made to the campaign.

Mackenzie’s family members were also busy on Friday working collection hours and greeting supporters. Alan Page, Mackenzie’s father, deftly found where to place a number of the pumpkins on the scaffolding.

On Thursday, October 29, Mr Page said 54 pumpkins were dropped off for the challenge during collection hours.

“We don’t know how many we are going to get,” said Mr Page, as he was called to help place another pumpkin in the growing ranks.

Liz Page, Mackenzie’s mom, said support for the campaign is offered by many in the community, from Taylor Rental, Paproski’s Castle Hill Farm, and Mason’s Farm Market in Monroe. After Halloween, once the pumpkins carved pumpkins begin to go bad, they will be taken to Castle Hill Farm, Mackenzie said Friday afternoon. The cows at the nearby farm, where she has hosted a few pre-Challenge displays each year, she said, eat the pumpkins.

When carving pumpkins Mackenzie advises “be creative.” This year she also challenged participants to carve pumpkins with “their team,” whether that is a neighborhood or scouting group. Among the groups who responded to that suggestion this year was the JV soccer team from Newtown High School. Players showed up with 19 pumpkins to be added to the collection on Friday afternoon.

Virtual pumpkins can be purchased online at greatpumpkinchallenge.org.