Kokomo Tribune News Article

Church offers Easter baskets Friday

By TOM CAREY
Tribune community news editor

Hundreds of chocolate rabbits “hopped” into Trinity United Methodist Church this week.

The “bunny brigade” is part of a Kokomo Urban Outreach campaign to connect youngsters with Easter baskets.

Trinity Pastor and Kokomo Urban Outreach Executive Director Jeff Newton said the bunnies will find homes among the 300 Easter baskets currently in his 1701 S. Locke St. church.

Step into a storage room in the church basement and you’ll find a veritable chest of toys, yo-yos, puzzles, pencils, miniature footballs and basketballs, necklaces, bracelets, and sunglasses.

Even the most demanding sweet tooth would find something pleasant in the 1,000 candy bars, 150 pounds of foil-wrapped chocolate eggs and scores of suckers and lollypops.

There are also other sundry items, such as hair clips and about 500 stuffed animals. Several local churches, Currens Zapfe Paper & Notion Company Inc., and an anonymous donor — who, among other items, provided 300 bags of Easter grass — donated to the cause.

From 11 a.m. to noon Friday, parents are welcomed to drop by the church, and gather up goodies to make baskets for their children.

Newton estimates the Outreach Project will have enough materials to create 400 baskets at the church, located adjacent to Garden Square. Last year, 110 families — making 300 baskets — were represented at a similar endeavor.

He also said enough “goodies” were gathered and given to Coordinated Assistance Ministries Executive Director the Rev. Ruth Lawson to distribute to her clients. CAM, an ecumenical ministry to the homeless, operates a drop-in shelter at 210 N. Market St.

Newton said the project was simply part of Kokomo Urban Outreach’s goal to spread the word of God and “to help people have a normal life.”

“It may seem like a very small thing, but it’s a very important ministry,” Lawson said.

Faced with rent, and utility and food costs, she said there is often little left over for luxuries, such as Easter baskets.