by Noella Noelophile®
If you love Operation Easter Basket, here’s some great news.
And no, I’m not “April Fool”-ing.
Operation Easter Basket, hosted by Long Beach Community Action Team’s “Chief Inspiration Officer” Justin Rudd, is back!
After two years of the pandemic precluding a gathering (but NOT precluding the donation and distribution of Easter baskets to underprivileged youth!), Justin is planning a scaled-down basket assembly and distribution event on Sunday, April 10th at Bay Shore Church Youth Center.
This will be Community Action Team’s eighteenth annual Operation Easter Basket.
Or perhaps I should say, eighteenth and counting.
How to participate
“Volunteers are very welcome on Sunday, April 10th,” Justin emails. “Sign up at justinrudd.com/OEB volunteer.”
According to Operation Easter Basket’s Eventbrite page, there are three volunteer shifts available that Sunday: setup, from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm; and then two two-hour shifts: 11:45 am to 1:45 pm, and 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.
Volunteers are requested to arrive five minutes prior to their shifts, and to bring some items with them, to fill the baskets.
What sorts of items? Well, Justin emails that, “If people want to bring completed baskets, that is best. Or we would really like boxes of energy snack bars from Costco and Smart and Final.”
If you’d like to assemble some baskets to donate, here’s a link to guide you on what items to include. Briefly, each basket needs: personal hygiene items (full-sized bottles of shampoo and body wash, toothbrush and toothpaste); socks; school supplies; a small toy or game; and, of course, candy.
Baskets are needed for ages newborn to sixteen years.
Additional ways to help
This year’s goal: 2,000 completed Easter baskets. Community organizations can request these in advance for the youth they serve. Past recipients have included missions, youth organizations and children’s hospitals.
Can’t come to Bay Shore Church on the 10th, but you’d still like to donate? Justin will be accepting completed baskets through Wednesday, April 13th. You can email him at justin@justinrudd.com, for more details.
I’m sorry to have to miss this! Operation Easter Basket has been our springtime tradition for a number of years. Out of an abundance of caution for older family members’ well-being, we’re still isolating. But we’ll certainly be supporting them remotely. Justin says donations of money are “most helpful”, if you’re in a position to do so.
If you would like to help, here’s a link where you and I can contribute. And a very Happy Easter, and Happy Spring, to you and yours.