Easter Eggstravaganza = JOY!
Pause has seen the need for family fun grow exponentially in the past year. Families who have kids with special needs find it hard to access community holiday events in safe ways. Sometimes the location or outdoor setting is challenging for kids who get overstimulated and run to find a calmer space. Sometimes families fear judgment from other people when their kiddo is having a big emotion in a tough moment. Sometimes parents worry their kiddo won’t enjoy or won’t be able to access the activities at a general community event without necessary sensory breaks. We are so thankful to have a fully donated space and the autonomy to design it purposefully. This flexibility gives families a safe, judgment free environment to enjoy time together as a family.
Our annual Family Fun events are now serving close to 500 kids and caregivers and are a staff and volunteer favorite! We love to see families interacting with each other, building family traditions and creating lasting memories together - because we know that there is a limited amount of events that allow their family to do so.
On April 2nd, Pause hosted its 3rd annual Easter Eggstravaganza serving 484 kids and caregivers! Pause Content Coordinator, Kaylann Yankie, designed each station intentionally to build self-esteem, a sense of belonging and give kids and caregivers the ability to connect with nature and each other in fun ways. Families were able to enjoy over 30 different Easter and Spring themed crafts, activities and games together.
At just a few of the stations, kids used their creativity to paint flower pots, used their green thumbs to plant sunflower seeds and tapped into their science and engineering skills to create bunny catapults. No matter their developmental ages or preferences, there was an egg hunt for everyone. Kids were seen collecting puzzle pieces, hunting for glow in the dark eggs, scouring through a room full of balloons and even searching high and low for QR codes that filled their minds with positive affirmations about their worth.
AND - it wouldn’t have been an Easter event without the Easter Bunny! A big shout out to our rockstar volunteer who dedicated her whole day to bringing the Easter Bunny to life in the kindest, most caring, and fun way! A big hit indeed - giving families an opportunity for connection and picture memories that may not have been possible in a different setting.
This event simply wouldn’t have been possible without the 57 volunteers who poured their hearts into the preparation and execution of the event! Our dedicated volunteers spent 45 hours BEFORE the event preparing everything from the activities to the 278 customized Easter Baskets. They were able to do so because of the hundreds of donated supplies sent in by our CAN DO community!
We saw the smiles and heard the laughs all day - but don’t take it from us! See what some families had to say!
“This event is a core memory for our kids. I was blown away how much they remember from previous years as we talked about coming to the event today. We are not able to access large crowds and public egg hunts, so this is the one and only Easter holiday event we participate in. It means so much to our family. We are so grateful for fun, thoughtful, and safe opportunities to have fun together and celebrate the holiday.”
“I can not thank all the volunteers enough. My health has declined and I have not been able to do much with my kids. I thought Easter was going to be hard because I don’t have the energy right now to make Easter baskets and do craft with the kids. It was amazing to come there and get everything. My kids could not stop thanking us for bringing them there. Thank you for this blessing you gave to my family. We all enjoyed it so much. It was well needed time together as a family.”
“Their smiles are a very accurate representation of the time they had! As a parent it is the greatest feeling for them to have a well organized event full of wonderful people to keep them safe. It’s amazing for them to have the same opportunities and be a kid! Thanks so much Pause for another fantastic event.”
Thank you CAN DO - for all your volunteer hours and your donated resources to make this event a core memory for Pause families. Your support is unmatched and we are incredibly grateful for your support.
This is CAN DO. This is COMMUNITY. This is YOUR SUPPORT.
