This year, Mother Nature decided not to be upstaged by the Easter Bunny. So on the day of the event she let loose with some torrential rain. But, being New Englanders we weren’t about to let a small monsoon stop us-and Plan B was swiftly put in place. The Forestdale school in Sandwich was the perfect venue for our backup plan. The indoor space was HUGE! There was plenty of room for all of the day’s events. Thanks to some quick thinking and to some very generous Kind Heart friends who allowed us to borrow some wading pools, the day (and the Easter egg hunt) was saved!
The kids showed up in droves with rain coats, boots and smiles a mile wide. Inside, you would never know how miserable it was outdoors. The families, the laughter and the delighted children filled the school with warmth and joy. Sorry Mother Nature-you lose!
Our amazing and supportive friends from Pine Meadow Alpacas brought along some of their four-legged cuties to meet and greet with the kids. A giant tortoise, a bunny, a bearded dragon, Guinea pigs and 2 one-week old baby goats all made appearances at the Easter event. They received lots of love from kids and adults alike!
Kind Hearts is so fortunate to be able to share the incredible talents of Dianne Enzian (of Dianne’s Art Farm) and Lauren DeGregorio (of Opalysis Designs) with the kids at many of our events. Dianne volunteered her time and talents helping the kids to make (and take home) some adorable no-sew sock bunnies. Lauren volunteered her time and talents creating fabulous works of Easter art on the kids faces with her with face painting.
Easter themed games were smattered throughout the Forestdale space adding to the fun of the day. There was bunny bowling, ring toss, sack races, pin the tail on the bunny, twister and the surprisingly popular Easter Bingo. The kids also enjoyed getting temporary tattoos, coloring and make your own (yummy!) desserts.
The Easter Bunny, fresh off the win over Mother Nature, was in great spirits and handed out high-fives and hugs to kids and adults alike. The Easter Bunny made sure to take time for some photo ops and selfies with new friends to commemorate the joyous occasion.
Thanks to the many donations, volunteers stuffing eggs and the backup plan wading pools, the Easter egg hunt was a colorful wonderland of eggs and grass. Easter grass flew high as the kids dug into the pools to find the treasured eggs and put them into their Easter baskets. Some of our smaller patrons climbed right in and made themselves comfortable among the eggs. Needless to say, the kids had a blast!
Our fabulous volunteers made some delicious treats for the kids to munch and each child received a goody bag filled with Easter themed toys and treats graciously donated and put together by Quench training for Women.
Our volunteers (all 30 of them) helped everything run smoothly and had a blast too! They helped set up, ran games, ran the Easter egg hunt, ran art and food stations and cleaned and packed it all up when it was done. Kids from St. John Paul II and Sandwich schools helped along side our adult volunteers and did an incredible job keeping everything running smoothly. Thank you all!!
We want to leave you with this photo, which sums up the heart of the incredible founder of Kind Hearts for Kids, Nicole Mitchell. She puts everything she has into all of this-and she does it all for the Kids! Have a wonderful Easter everyone!
