Ebenezer Methodist Finds Community Spirit with Egg Hunt

It was a beautiful day for an egg hunt.

Hundreds of Norristown area youth and their families gathered at Eisenhower Middle School on March 30 for the annual City-Wide Egg Hunt, hosted by Ebenezer Methodist Church.

“It’s a church-wide effort for the community,” Shanette Jessie, Ebenezer Methodist congregant, said.

Jessie is a staff member of the church’s pastor, Bishop Albert N Jarmer, and is on the City-Wide Egg Hunt committee. She said that the church has held its egg hunt for at least the last two decades. Initially the egg hunt was for the families of Ebenezer Methodist Church, and held on the church grounds, located at 234 E. Spruce St. in Norristown.

Jessie said the event quickly grew to include families from neighboring churches, including Mount Zion A.M.E. and Higher Ground Church. Then, approximately in 2006, members of the general community were also starting to participate with the egg hunt, prompting Ebenezer Methodist Church to move the event to Eisenhower Middle School.

According to Jessie, this year community participation seems to have increased even further.

“That is excellent. That is what we want,” Jessie said. “We want to be involved in our community, and we want them to be involved with us.”

The free event took place from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., and featured a hot-dog lunch, a DJ and various children’s activities inside the school’s gymnasium. The activities included egg tosses, egg relays and musical chairs, as facilitated by the Ebenezer Methodist Church’s Youth ministry and led by the church’s children’s pastor Rev. Lorretta Hadrick.

 Outside, hundreds of colorful plastic eggs were spread out on the lawn, where Jessie and fellow Ebenezer Methodist volunteers helped guide the youth to the prizes. Silver and gold eggs were also spread around, each containing more than just jelly beans, but grand prizes that included money, a portable DVD player, a flat-screen television and a year’s supply of Chick-fil-A.

The egg hunt was divided into two segments between older and younger youth participants.

“This is his first year egg hunting, and it was right down the street,” Cheryl Soleta, Norristown resident, said of her 2-year-old son Jayden’s participation of the City-Wide Egg Hunt.

But regardless of the age, all the children were highly-enthusiastic to spend their morning hunting eggs out in their community.

“I think this is what it’s all about,” Tiffini Hendley said.

A former Ebenezer Methodist congregant and Norristown Area School District school board candidate, Hendley, who was with her family, said she gladly supports Ebenezer Methodist Church’s City-Wide Egg Hunt.

“We should be here for the community, for the kids,” Hendley said. “If we don’t support the kids, what would they look forward to for a positive outlet in the community?