By Brett Hetherington*

Inside the fellowship hall of Huron United Methodist Church (West Plains District) on Palm Sunday afternoon dozens of colorful plastic Easter eggs were scattered around, waiting for a special group of children to come and find them. The children were the guests of honor at a now annual Easter Egg Hunt for Children with Special Needs that has attracted more participants each of the past few years.

“We started this one year before COVID hit and I was a little afraid it wouldn’t come back but it came back!” shared Pastor Pamela Sayre. She explained that the event started as the brainchild of an individual who is no longer at the church, and it is now the ministry of Janessa Faller, the Huron UMC director of Christian Education, and a team of volunteers.

“The parents just love it because if their child goes to a normal Easter egg hunt there’s no way they are getting eggs,” said Faller.

The hunt started as an outreach to what was noticed to be a largely underserved population in the area. There are four separate egg hunts within the event for specific groups.

• A quiet hunt for children who have difficulty processing loud or extraneous noise.
• A magnetic hunt for children with wheelchairs or mobility restrictions.
• A general hunt for children who need extra time or assistance.
• A noisy hunt for children who are blind or visually impaired.

Many of the children who attended are returning guests and many of the volunteers have been able to build small relationships with them. “One child who attended received a bunny his first year and continues bringing it with him year after year,” said Faller.

Parents and volunteers both wandered the room with children, excitedly looking for eggs, and the room was filled with laughter and other joyful noises. More than one parent shared that this is something their child looks forward to each year. When each child had found enough eggs to satisfy themselves, they turned in their basket of plastic eggs for a small bucket with stuffed animals, sunglasses and other small treats to play with.

The event had some assistance from the district in the early stages according to Sayre. “The second year we received a District grant and then COVID hit and I’m like ‘It’s coming back, we’re going to do this!’ But we were able to use the grant the following year and it is still going today,” she said.

There has not been a lot of effort put into advertising for the Easter Egg Hunt, relying mostly on word of mouth and Facebook posts, but attendance has grown from 3 or 4 kids the first year to approximately two dozen in 2024.

“We’ve had parents with tears in their eyes because their child has never been able to hunt eggs,” shared Sayre. “Because normally it’s such a big thing and they just let the kids loose and they all just scream and run. But this group that’s been mostly forgotten, this is something for them.”

“One of the ladies here every time she goes shopping and sees the little stuffed animals, she brings them in for us, and we collect other stuff it’s just really cool,” said Sayre. “I can’t brag on this congregation enough.”

Rounding out the day’s festivities was a first for the children. One volunteer was able to bring in a therapy dog to interact with any of the children who wanted or needed some animal comfort.

The Conference Communications team would like to share other stories that highlight ways that each of us is answering the call of Bishop Tracy S. Malone to reach out to our communities in creative ways. Please e-mail your ministry story to EOC Executive Director of Communications Rick Wolcott at wolcott@eocumc.com.

*Brett Hetherington is the Communications specialist for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.