A few months back, a friend dropped off a donation to KVC and she ended up talking with Brandy, their Community Resource Specialist. Brandy expressed a desire to provide Easter baskets to foster families. In the past, they have tried getting Easter baskets prepared to give to foster families but they struggled getting donation in on time. With so many families (approximately 250), social workers typically only visit once a month so to ensure everyone gets a basket, they would need them about a month or so in advance.
We jumped on the opportunity to take on this project! Suppliewere ordered (and rolled in little by little over the last two months). A lot of MATH went into preparing for this event...so if each basket will get 10 eggs, and there are 250 baskets, we will need 2500-3000 eggs-then the tricky part-how much of each candy to get when they come in odd quantities that don't match perfectly with our eggs :) Preparing for an event is always an adventure, but one we love!
What did we include in our baskets? Well we had a large, solid milk chocolate Russel Stover bunny, an egg decorating kit, a bunny paddle toy, an Easter coloring book and crayon pack, Playdough filled Easter eggs, Easter stamps, Easter figure scratch kits, bubbles, and candy filled eggs!
One special item included in the bags were some beautiful chalk eggs, handmade by a local company out of Lee's Summit, MO called Chalk Hearts KC. They offered us a discounted price on the eggs because they wanted to support our event of bringing a smile to a child's face. This was their biggest order to date and we really appreciate the rush they put on this order, as well as the added extra touches like the pretty sticker. Check them out!
We wanted to make sure the kids had the opportunity to put some of their own creativity and love into the Easter baskets so we came up with a craft that fit our theme. So many volunteers came together to help prepare parts of our craft. We had some cutting bunny ears, some making bow ties, and some bagging bubbles and kits. It was a team effort and we are really appreciative of all the help!
The event began with making our Easter "basket" bags. Families arrived and got right to work. We were blown away by the creativity of our KindCrafters! They came up with ways to decorate their bunny that we had never event thought of! Kids are amazing aren't they??
Each KindCrafter made about 2-3 Easter bunny bags and then brought them to the edges of the room for them to dry. Thank goodness we decided to use glue dots at the last minute because they really helped in our drying process! Check out how cute these are!
With our craft done, it was time to work on filling eggs! We had five different types of eggs all divided out so that each of the 17 tables had candy to fill. We had 100 attendees and our goal was for them to fill ABOUT 30 eggs each. Our spread included chocolate eggs, starburst, life savers, tootsie rolls, and jolly ranchers.
The kids wasted no time at all stuffing eggs. They were really good at it too! They knew to clasp the eggs really tight. They filled and filled and then came to ask for more to fill :) Kids truly love to help! During this time, we didn't have ONE child ask if they could have some of the candy. Here they are filling away!
People often ask us what ages KindCraft events are appropriate for. The answer is that they are geared mostly towards elementary aged kiddos, but truly there are NO age limits! We have teenagers who love to do the projects, adults who like to help, and yes, even our youngest KindCrafters have been known to lend a helping hand :)
With our eggs filled it meant it was time to fill our Easter bags! Families lined up assembly line style and patiently walked the LONG line! We loved watching how much care they each put into choosing just the right one for their recipient.
These bags will be picked up by social workers and delivered to local foster families over the next month! We can't thank you enough for helping us create a community of compassionate children!
We would LOVE for you to join us at our next KindCraft event. Our April service project will take place at Indian Creek Library in Olathe and we will be making May Day baskets for neighbors and nursing homes! Know of a nursing home that would like May Day baskets for their residents? Please let us know! Here is the link to register for this event. Spots are filling quickly so don't delay! Register here!
Special thanks to Scheels Overland Park for choosing KindCraft as a recipient of their generous Giving Campaign. With their support, we were able to purchase ALL of the supplies needed for this service project! Thanks to their support, we not only assembled Easter bags for 250 foster families, we also continued our mission of creating a community of compassionate children through hands on service projects.