New Hope's Haunted 'Pomish Manor' Scares Up Food Shelf Donations With Reverse Halloween
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- While trick-or-treaters fill up their bags with candy in one week, a Twin Cities woman is hoping to fill up food shelves with her love of Halloween.
Liz Pomish runs the show at the Pomish Manor in New Hope. Her spooky outdoor home décor has drawn visitors for years, as spectators check out the display that goes up every October.
"I just think it's fun. I love to decorate," Pomish said. "I probably have hundreds [of decorations]."
Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on Pomish's annual Halloween party, which she had hosted every year for three decades. She cancelled the party, and instead asked her usual guests to come by her house for outdoor Halloween fun, but with a cause this time.
"I thought, 'What can we do so that we can get people to come by and still do something good for the community,'" Pomish said. "So we thought let's do a food drive, you know, do a fundraiser, food drive at the same time."
Dressed in a costume, she hands out a treat to every person that donates in the drive-by fundraiser. Last year, the Pomish Manor collected more than 470 pounds of nonperishable foods. She wants to beat that this year.
The cars kept coming Sunday night for night one of the fundraiser. Pomish says she still hopes to have her Halloween party again, but it will continue to collect for those in need. She told her family she's already looking at new decorations for next year.
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"They think I'm nuts, but that's OK, they're into it," she said.
Pomish will host one more night of the drive-by food shelf fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Pomish Manor is located at 3256 Ensign Avenue North in New Hope. All donations will go to Prism Food Shelf.