Thousands of eggs, hundreds of children, and a very hoppy Easter Bunny

 

Regardless of the weather, be it winter or spring-like, the Boys & Girls Club of Whitecourt & District always holds its Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Easter weekend. This year’s event took place on Saturday, March 31 and it was not spring-like. Not that it’s surprising, but the weather didn’t keep many people away because, after all, free chocolate, a fundraiser barbecue, and furry friends are a great reason to get out of the house no matter the temperature outside. Along with the Easter Bunny, Whitecourt firefighters were on hand with Bertie Beaver and Sparky the fire dog.

Thanks to recent snowfalls, there was a lot of snow on the ground which made the search for eggs a bit more adventurous and fun. This year, organizers hid the eggs around the picnic area near the slides and in the splash park area. The hunt started earlier than advertised due to the chillier weather but there were more than enough eggs for the children who arrived closer to the original start time to find.

Roughly 5,000 eggs were painstakingly put together in preparation for the event and Alicia Smallwood, Teen Centre Manager and Youth Development Co-ordinator said the volunteers made it happen. “With our volunteers we also had some amazing kids from École St. Joseph School, about six students, come out and help us fill the eggs and do the prep work for the event.”

As a non-profit organization, the Boys & Girls Club relies heavily on the support it receives from the community, and events such as the Easter Egg Hunt are a great way for it to give back. By holding a barbecue at the same time, the club can give the community a fun, free event while also fundraising for its programs.

“Any chance to fundraise for our kids to help fund our programs including the food program is extremely important for us. We always feel the love from the community and we love putting this on for the kids. To see everyone come out on these cold days especially is just great. It’s been a really good day and lots of fun.”

Generous community sponsors including Canadian Tire and Make My Fun Hobbies & Toys provided prizes such as bikes and easels, and every child who took part received a goodie bag. Subway, Booster Juice, A&W, McDonalds, Dairy Queen, and Tim Hortons were just some of the businesses that put something in the bags.

As a bonus, Birdies for Kids promised to match 50 per cent of any donations the club received during the barbecue. “Thank you to the community and our sponsorships for making this possible. We love doing this and love being a part of our community. We couldn’t do this without you and being a non-profit organization, everyone who comes together to make this possible is extremely important and close to our hearts,” smiled Alicia.