The Prettiest Pumpkins

here aren’t many fifth graders who can call themselves artists and humanitarians. At 10, Rielly Rudolph is going into her fifth – fifth! – year of making hand-decorated pumpkins for young patients at Children’s Hospital of Michigan to be distributed around Halloween.

“When I was 5, we were painting pumpkins as decorations and I asked, ‘What do kids in the hospital do for Halloween?’” Rielly, who’s aiming for 100 pumpkins this month, says. Rielly’s No-Carve Pumpkins – they’re “no-carve” because jack-o’-lanterns are not allowed in hospitals – was born, and the University Prep Academy student recruits her classmates (and sometimes mommy and daddy, too) to adorn the small gourds with a variety of styles.

In five years, her artistic evolution is clear. When she was younger, she leaned toward covering pumpkins in feathers and other spangles. Now the pumpkins are a little more refined – some with sequined masks, some with glasses, but all made from the heart.

“I like to paint them and show my skills because I like to be creative,” Rielly says.