A purple toilet filled with topsoil and pansies may pop up in your yard within the next few weeks — if it hasn’t already.

The Delta Delta chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha sorority’s One Step-One Miracle Relay for Life team is conducting the Purple Pansy Potty fundraiser to raise money for the upcoming event, which will benefit the American Cancer Society.

If you want to make sure the toilet doesn’t end up in your yard, you can pay $25. For $15, you can have it placed in a friend’s yard. And if it’s placed in your yard, you can pay $20 to have it removed.

The toilet is being placed in one Seymour yard at a time. If a person doesn’t respond within a couple of days, it is moved to another yard.

Stacey Brummett, a member of the sorority and Relay for Life team, said the fundraiser has been well-received.

It first landed in a coworker’s yard.

“She thought it was hilarious, and her daughters wanted to keep it,” Brummett said. “Her little one just turned 5 and went out and posed with it. It was cute. She was really sad when it was gone the next day.”

Since then, the toilet has made its way to several other yards.

“Everybody has been super-receptive to it,” Brummett said. “The last guy that had it, he thought it was great. He just giggled and said, ‘I’m going to water your flowers for you.'”

The fundraiser started after philanthropy co-chairwomen Brummett and Barb Grant were brainstorming ideas while looking at Pinterest.

Brummett said she had an old toilet at home, and she and her husband painted it purple, which is the color associated with Relay for Life. They filled it with topsoil and pansies and put information on it so people know their options to have it removed from their yard.

Brummett and Grant shared the fundraiser idea with their fellow sorority members, who suggested names of people to place the toilet in their yards and made donations.

“If you get a purple potty in your yard, don’t be upset,” Brummett said. “It’s for a great cause, and it’s anonymous. We’re not going to tell you who sent it to you.”

When Brummett is contacted, a couple of men help her move it to the next yard.

“It doesn’t matter really how many places it goes,” she said. “We’re up for whatever. The boys said they would just keep doing it.”

People are encouraged to take a picture of the toilet and put it on Facebook using the hashtag #purplepansypotty to bring awareness to the fundraiser and Relay for Life. It will continue until May 10, and the fundraising goal is $500.

This year’s Relay for Life has a Disney theme, “Wish Upon a Cure!” and is from 6 to 11 p.m. May 11 at Seymour High School’s Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium. Each team is encouraged to select a Disney movie and decorate their area with the movie theme.

One Step-One Miracle’s team fundraising goal is $10,000, and Brummett said they usually meet that every year.

She said Relay for Life’s cause means a lot to the team members, and they do what they can to bring awareness.

Brummett said her mother had a kidney removed because of cancer, and her uncle just finished up his chemotherapy and radiation for esophageal cancer.

“It’s hitting close to home now,” she said. “Every family has been touched by cancer.”

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The ESA One Step-One Miracle Relay for Life team is conducting a Purple Pansy Potty fundraiser.

Donate $15 to have the purple toilet placed in someone’s yard in Seymour, donate $20 to have it taken away or donate $25 to ensure it isn’t placed in your yard.

For information on removal or to prepay for insurance, contact Stacey Brummett at 812-216-9064.

All proceeds go toward Relay for Life of Jackson County’s fundraising efforts for the May 11 event at Seymour High School’s Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

People are encouraged to take a picture of the toilet and put it on Facebook using the hashtag #purplepansypotty to bring awareness to the fundraiser and Relay for Life. It will continue until May 10. For information and pictures, visit the ESA One Step One Miracle’s Purple Pansy Potty Fundraiser page on Facebook.

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Upcoming Relay for Life of Jackson County events:

6:15 p.m. Saturday: Survivor Dinner at The Point, 311 Myers Lane, Seymour. Invitations were mailed; however, interested survivors may contact Stacey Brummett at [email protected] or 812-216-9064 or Amberly Brewer at [email protected] or 812-569-0630. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by Frisky Business.

6:30 p.m. April 30: Relay for Life meeting at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 504 N. Walnut St., Seymour. Teams will learn final details and receive participant shirts.

6 to 11 p.m. May 11: Relay for Life with the Disney theme “Wish Upon a Cure!” at Seymour High School’s Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium off of Community Drive in Seymour. Cancer survivors are invited to participate in the Survivor Lap immediately following the opening ceremonies at 6 p.m. Family members, friends and caregivers are invited to join survivors on the second lap. Everyone is invited to stay for activities, entertainment and dinner. The Luminaria Ceremony begins at 8 p.m., and the closing ceremonies will be at 11 p.m.

Teams are encouraged to join any time and start fundraising. Anyone wanting to start a team or register as a survivor may do so online at relayforlife.org/jacksoncountyin. All registrations must be submitted online on an official registration form or by calling 800-227-2345.

For information, visit Relay for Life of Jackson County on Facebook.

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