By Patricia Beech-
Over 200 local children turned out on Saturday, April 27 for the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Wilson Children’s Home in West Union.
The holiday event is hosted by Adams County Children Services.
The egg hunt typically draws around 500 children, according to Tina Gordley, Administrative Assistant for Adams County Children’s Services and the Wilson Childrens Home
Gordley told the Defender she thinks the weather kept a lot of people from attending this year.
“You never know what Mother Nature’s got in store,” she said. “We were forced to cancel last year because of weather, and this year we had to move it up a week for the same reason. I think the delay just interfered with a lot of people’s holiday plans.”
Each child who registered to participate in the egg hunt received a color-changing cup filled with candy.
Additional gifts were given throughout the day.
The cancellation of the 2018 egg hunt meant that preparations were already well under way for this year’s event.
“We had everything ready to go last year when the weather forced us to cancel,” said Gordley. “We sent out letters to our donors informing them we still had last year’s donations, but many of them still donated for this year and that allowed many of the children to take home two gifts.”
Gordley says there is broad community support for the holiday event.
“Our community is awesome when it comes to helping out our kids or doing anything we ask them to do,” she says. “Giving these kids something for Easter that they might not have received otherwise sends a message that their community cares.”
Children’s Services received multiple donations for the event, including some from out-of-town donors like: COSI; the Columbus Crew professional soccer team; the Cincinnati Bengals; and the Cincinnati Reds.
Other individual, agency, and business donors were: AAA Sanitation, ACCS Staff, Families & Friends, Adams County Building & Loan, Adams County Economic Development Office, Adams County Engineer’s Office / Adams County Highway Dept., Adams County Health Department, Adams County Job & Family Services, Adams County Medical Group, AFSCME Local 3211, Al & Sarah Lewis, American Cylinder, Attorney John Caldwell, B.B. & E. Inc., Barry’s Chevrolet, Blake Pharmacy, Boy Scout Troop 60, Campton Cabinetry, Cedar Works/Pennington Seed, Church 180, Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Zoo, Columbus Crew, Commac Foods, COSI, Countyline Carryout, Creation Museum, Dr. Langston McKenna, Easter Bunny, First State Bank, FRS Counseling, Greene’s Chiropractic, Insurance Exchange, James B. Harsha, Kings Island, Kroger, Lafferty Funeral Home, Link Insurance, Lloyd’s Excavating, Max Realty, McDonald’s, McFarland Towing, McNeilan Trash Removal, Mosier’s Furniture & Appliance, National Bank of Adams County, Newport Aquarium, Peebles Monument Company, Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, Perdue’s Body Shop, Prather’s IGA, Richmond Insurance Agency, Roger Rhonemus, Roush Insurance Agency, Salvation Army, Shawnee Mental Health Center, Shear Magic, Shupert’s Tire Service, Signature Real Estate Properties, Snappy Tomato Pizza – West Union, Southern Hills Community Bank, State Farm Insurance, Swayne Air Conditioning & Heating, The Beach Waterpark, Thompson Meeker Funeral Home, Unger Construction, Union Hill Church, United Dairy Farmers, W.U. Electric & Plumbing, Wallingford Surveyors, West Union Bible Baptist Church, West Union Electric, West Union Life Squad, West Union Volunteer Fire Department, Williams Construction, and Women Helping Women.
