By: Patrick Hall
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – NWA Special Kids is a non-profit organization that helps provide unique events for children with special needs. This past weekend marked the first time they put on their Easter egg hunt event in three years due to COVID.
The egg hunt took place at the Benton County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 8th from 3-5 PM. It was free Easter egg hunt for children with special needs and their families.
The event was put together by a local family, Bill and Natalie Burchit who started this in 2017. They decided to start it because of multiple reasons but said that it was ultimately because of the family and friends close to them who had special needs children.
There were four separate egg hunts for all children who came. The first hunt consisted of talking eggs for children who are blind or visually impaired. The eggs would speak to them that way they could locate them, and they would then trade them in for candy.
The next hunt was the quiet egg hunt which was catered toward children on the Autism Spectrum or children with Sensory Processing issues who need a quiet environment.
One parent of a child who participated in the quiet hunt said, “It just helps my child feel safer, you know sometimes there are easter egg hunts and they can get pretty loud and this one made everyone feel conformable.”
The magnetic egg hunt was next as the volunteers handed out magnets to the children who are in wheelchairs or have mobility restrictions. With magnetic eggs and poles it allowed the kids to collect eggs.
Event Coordinator Natalie Burchit said, “Instead of being identified by their disability, we create an environment where it doesn’t really matter, they get to do what a typical child or typical family takes for granted.” and also added, “I think that is what makes this event special is that it allows kid to be kids”
The Burchit family wanted to create a safe and fun environment for everyone at the event.
The last hunt was called the “General Egg Hunt”, This was for all children with any other disabilities and siblings of the other children who attended the event.
Burchit also added they gave out over 10,000 eggs on the entire day and have over 500 participants who registered for the event.
Adding that with over 100 volunteers, Burchit said they had to move the event this year due to the increasing number of people who signed up. They plan to continue to grow and have a strong representation of volunteers from the area.
Canvas church a non-denominational church in Bentonville was a “Golden Egg” sponsor this year. Marshall Moore, a member of the church, said “seeing the kids being able to participate in something that helps them relax, and the parents can watch their kids go have fun, everything is safe and that is really rewarding seeing the kids have true joy on their faces.” He added that this was only his second time volunteering, but he will continue to do so in the future.
They had over 20 sponsors this year and Burchit said that it would not be possible to put on something like this without the help of all of them.