Dozens of excited children raced through the atrium of the Bucyrus Campus on Saturday, looking to fill their colorful bunny bags with eggs, and maybe even capture a coveted golden egg.
The hunt, a community outreach event for the last three years, took a slightly different form this year. Most of the hunts around Milwaukee follow more traditional approach, with children divided into age groups, then set loose at the appointed time to gather eggs until they are all found. Last year, St. Ann Center staff noticed children who arrived a few minutes too late left empty-handed, and that definitely wasn’t in keeping with the joyous spirit of the holiday.
So this year, they turned the hunt into a continuous one: Children got bunny bags that each held about 18 eggs. Once filled, they took the bags to exchange the eggs for a prize bag of candy and small toys. The lucky finders of the golden eggs got an additional prize. Then, intrepid volunteers played bunny and re-hid the returned eggs throughout the two-floor hunting grounds, a process that repeated until the event ended two hours later. This change ensured children of all ages could hunt in the same space…and everyone would find the eggs. For some participants, that was even more fun than the prize bag they received!
The children also received bags of popcorn, courtesy of Wingtique, and took photos with the Easter Bunny before hopping out and on their way.
The hunt was made possible by these sponsors: Milwaukee County Office of Equity, Gershia Coggs & G. Spencer Coggs, Grandma Book, The 39th Annual Black Excellence Awards, AARP Wisconsin, World Mission Ministries, Gloria Miller, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Epsilon Kappa Omega Chapters. Additional thanks to Northwestern Mutual for the volunteer help before and at the event.
