Great Oak High School hosted Easter egg hunt for special needs children

Great Oak High School’s National Honors Society students hosted an Easter egg hunt for local disabled and special needs children at the Go Bananas Farm in Murrieta April 8. The project coordinators partnered up with Go Bananas for the third annual event. Aiming to offer a safe environment for these children from various age ranges, the Easter egg hunt has grown each year.

The student chose to host their event one weekend before Easter, hoping to maximize family connections and offer the event to more families. This year nearly 70 families signed up for the event, and more than half came to enjoy the activities offered. Free for all families, the egg hunt featured crafts, coloring books, bubbles, sports balls, bean bag tosses and healthy snacks.

The students began preparing for the egg hunt a year in advance, putting a lot of thought into bringing forth the best event possible for the children. Coordinators Eric Feng, Axel Malahieude, Mauria Hebert, Sabrina Diaz-Gallegos and Karina Di Franco prepared the Easter eggs stuffing them with small toys, temporary tattoos and other nonfood products to avoid the risk of allergies. They also provided supplies for the games at the event. After filling the eggs, buying oranges, pretzels and water, the coordinators invited 20 other National Honor Society members to volunteer at the event. The “helpers in navy shirts” set up the event hours prior and supervised during the event to ensure safety for all the children.

The students said they felt “there is a lack of involvement of special needs children in regular child’s activities and events. Special needs children often feel left out and uninvolved.” The mission of Go Bananas is to help those with special needs feel more included in society.

Separating the egg hunt by age groups, the children hunted for the colorful eggs around the grass fields, hills and rows of trees in the farm. The head of Go Bananas, Julia Rogoff, advertised the event through her organization, which has assisted 2,000 families in Southern California and grown drastically since its inauguration in 2012.

“We are open to all disabilities and all ages as we provide events for the families and advocacy for the families, a support network and we also run Cultivating Inclusion a farm of 4 acres where we teach adults with disabilities vocational skills,” Rogoff said.

In previous years, they brought in approximately 30 children, however, this year more than 40 children attended.

“The Easter egg hunts that are held around town can be far too overwhelming for children with disabilities, and that is why we have a private event here,” she said. Participating children were welcomed to an interactive and safe environment to partake in the seasonal festivities and provided the special needs community a free memorable day.

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