March 23, 2018
Working @Collaborative Solutions for Communities (non-profit org)
Under my title of Multimedia Specialist, I must promote the programs we have through photos and video. With programs come events of engaging with the community, and well you can maybe start to see where this is going. Under the Truancy program it was decided that we were going to have Easter events for each of the schools in DC that we work with.
It was my job to go to 5 different schools with staff members and take photos and post it on social media. What I did not know was what it would be like to be on the other side of Easter Events; being the one that assists the Easter Bunny in short.
I was helping set up the goodie bags we were going to give the kids (ages 4-9), pack and hide the eggs, and assist the person playing the Easter Bunny move among the crowd as it was difficult for him to see in the Bunny suit.
Things did not all go perfectly. The wind would knock all the eggs out of there hiding places, we could only do them in playgrounds that had very few hiding places, none of the candies could have chocolate, the eggs were not easy to close shut, and the Easter Bunny did scare a few kids (some to the point of tears unfortunately).
That all being said, each time it was a huge success. Success in this case measured by how happy and excited the kids were. Kids would see the Easter Bunny and start almost screaming with excitement. And when the egg hunt started, ready set go, those children sprinted! Some kids would trip and fall from how fast they ran, and I had to help push some of the kids off of the Easter Bunny (lol). The bunny suit gets hot, and “Mr. Hops”, as we called him, would need breaks and escape from the kids pushing and shoving to pet him (you know, because he’s a soft bunny lol).
I was able to get a lot of great photos, and have great talks with the staff on the drive there and back. I did good work, and got to bond and share interesting and mutual thoughts and experiences with staff members that I ordinarily would be too busy working to talk to.
Today that I make this post was the last day we were doing these Easter events. It was another part of the Non-profit helping the community experience that I will treasure for many days to come.
Javier Caballero 