Easter cupcakes baked for the women and children of the Institute for Human Services homeless shelter cool on racks. (Photo courtesy of William Hays)
By William Hays
Special to the Herald
The Knights of Columbus and parishioners of St. Elizabeth Church in Aiea, in spite of the demands of social distancing during this time of coronavirus, stepped up to distribute some Easter cheer among the less fortunate.
We asked the Institute for Human Services homeless shelter in Honolulu if we could do something for the children at Easter.
While Easter activities might not cure COVID-19, they’re as tried and true as chicken soup for a cold in treating the anxiety and boredom caused by the virus. So we set out to provide the fixings for a quintessential Easter party for 130 residents of the women and children’s shelter, 50 of whom were children.
You can’t have Easter without eggs and balloons. So we filled a couple hundred plastic eggs with candy and coins for an egg hunt and a couple dozen balloons to set the mood. We hard boiled 120 eggs and provided crayons and dyes to color them. We also provided gift bags full of chocolatey goodness to sustain the kids during their arduous search for eggs and then provided 270 cupcakes and 40 cookies to restore their energy afterward.
This year we had to abide by the rules of social distancing. Next year, we look forward to sitting down with the kids at IHS to color eggs and eat sweets.
