Private Donations Save Easter Egg Hunts

Not unlike the mad dash of young children running around in fields hunting for colored eggs this time of the year, the Concord Parks & Recreation Department has been able to secure funds for this year’s Easter egg hunts at four locations on Saturday.

According to David Gill, the director of the department, funding for the hunts was cut out of the budget a number of years ago and since then, it’s been “a scramble” to find the money to put them together. Most special events that aren’t self-funded through fees need private donations to sustain themselves, he noted.

Last week, thanks to support from a number of organizations and businesses, the department was able to confirm that they would be held this year.

“We pulled it together,” Gill said. “It usually comes through at the last minute.”

At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, children preschool to fourth-grade are welcome to attend one of the four hunts being held at Keach, Merrill, Rolfe, and White parks.

Gill said the Penacook Community Center, the Friends of White Park, the East Concord Preschool, Dance Inspirations, and other businesses helped out.

Patch has learned that Salon Iavena, Above All Collision, and Banks Chevrolet also helped out to ensure that the kids at Merrill Park had a hunt this year.

Carolyn Coskren of Dance Inspirations said she got involved in raising money for the effort after finding out late last year that the Merrill Park hunt had been cancelled. She had grown up with the event as a kid and taken her kids too it, too. A few weeks ago, Coskren found out Merrill wasn't going to have a hunt again this year. So, she sent text messages around attempting to raise money to ensure it would be held. Moms in the area also purchased baskets from Granite State Candy Shoppe and just completed filling more than 2,000 eggs for the event, she said. 

"It's really important to keep the small things in the neighborhood going," she said. "It's really exciting."

Two years ago, there weren’t enough eggs to go around at White Park, but a good Samaritan was on hand to make sure that all the kids at least got a little something.