Photos provided by CVCHURCH

By Lori BODNAR, intern        

The Easter Bunny is on the way to bring “hoppy-ness” to children in the foothill communities! Crescenta Valley Church (CVCHURCH) is hosting an Easter Egg Drive-thru ‘eggs-perience’ this Easter weekend on Saturday, April 3 from 9 a.m. to noon at 4001 La Crescenta Ave. The event is free for children within the community. Interested families can pre-register online for specific drive-thru times to attend the “eggs-citing” event using the weblink https://www.cvchurch.com/events.

The Easter Bunny will be on hand to greet kids in their cars. Due to the pandemic, families should wear facemasks while in their cars, but may briefly lower their mask for a quick picture of their child with the Easter Bunny. CVCHURCH will email pictures to the families. In addition to the Easter Bunny, there will of course be more Easter fun! A bag of several dozen Easter eggs will be given to each child. Eggs are filled with candy and fun toys appropriate for various age groups. There will also be balloon animals for the kids, plus a game bag. The fun games that children can do from their car include a bunny beanbag toss, a bunny target game and scooping up rubber ducks. The game bag and all items have been wiped down with disinfecting spray or wipes.

In addition to the drive-thru format, other precautions are being taken by CVCHURCH volunteers to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

“The volunteers will be wearing masks and shields. People handing items to the families will be wearing gloves. The packs will be washed or disinfected with spray. The scoopers for picking up rubber ducks are also being washed,” said Beth Krausse, the main event organizer and the Kids’ Place pastor.

There are about 50 volunteers helping at the Easter Egg Drive-thru event. CVCHURCH could use some additional high school or adult volunteers for set up and cleanup. High school volunteers might receive community service hours if they help at the event. Those who would like to volunteer can email Krausse at bethkrausse@cvchurch.com.

This is the eighth year of CVCHURCH hosting an Easter egg event in the Crescenta Valley. Normally an Easter egg hunt is held at Two Strikes Park but, due to the pandemic, it has been reimagined as a drive-thru. (Last year’s egg hunt was canceled.) CVCHURCH also hosted the Explore Bethlehem event near Christmas for 18 years.

“It was painful to not do the Easter egg event last year because we know people need to feel loved,” Krausse said. “We did Explore Bethlehem as a drive-thru for Christmas last year and it was a success. It matters to us that people feel cared for and loved, so we do events to bring joy to the community.”

CVCHURCH has been able to meet in-person socially distanced, masked and at reduced capacity following county guidelines for church services. The congregation has also met virtually on Zoom since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

It is hoped that the Easter Egg Drive-thru will be an event that will benefit the community through kindness.

“The pandemic has really limited the opportunity people have to do something that feels normal and fun,” said Rick Whitlow, administrative pastor. “We hope that in a small way, the egg hunt drive-thru gives families a chance to do something that bring joy and fun back into their lives, especially for the children.”

“At CVCHURCH there are three important words we want to share that everyone really needs today: faith, hope, and love,” said Scott Wood, the lead pastor. “Faith in Jesus Christ offers hope to everyone and the message of Easter demonstrates his love for us. So, we offer the Easter Egg Drive-thru to share faith, hope, and love with our community.”