CITY LIFE PHILLY’S EASTER EGG STRAVAGANZA

The strings of my life are braided in Syrian cheese

BY ROBERT JOSEPH CRUZ Assistant Photo Editor

With Easter coming up on Sunday, April 9, City Life Philly, a church located in South Philadelphia on 20th Street near Geary, gathered community members to hold their annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 1.

City Life Philly was founded with one main goal in mind: bringing the community together. Their event last weekend did just that, with countless volunteers, dozens of families and hundreds of children coming out to participate.

“We started our church 11 years ago in Philly, really with the desire to give back to the city,” said Brad Leach, lead pastor of City Life. “To be a positive influence in the city and really reveal to the city how generous the heart of God is.”

The hunt was originally planned to be held outdoors in FDR Park, but with heavy rain and a thunderstorm, the event was relocated into the church’s gym with the help of volunteers, like Trish Vadden, a retired school teacher.

“I’m a retired school teacher, so I’m used to going from plan A to plan B quickly, and that’s exactly what we did,” Vadden said. “We all huddled together, and we wanted this to go off no matter what; we didn’t want to postpone it. We said ‘rain or shine’ and we just opened up the church.”

Throughout the event, children had the opportunity to take pictures with the Easter Bunny, get their face painted or just eat food and socialize – all options were completely free. The festivities were a great opportunity for children to get out and socialize in person, something parents, like Qatrina Dunlap, have been hoping for as the threat of COVID-19 diminishes.

“A lot of kids had a lot of issues being locked down, and no one in our generation ever experienced anything like this,” said Dunlap, 45, who attended the event with her family. “A lot of the kids [my daughter’s] age, younger, and even older, we don’t really realize what they’ve been dealing with and this is great for them just being able to interact.”

Despite the hurdle brought forth by the inclement weather, the turnout was better than any organizer expected.

“I’m impressed that people came still, that they were able to still find us,” said Tika Stock, communications and connections director of City Life. “We tried social media and everything to make sure to tell everyone. But, I’m so impressed with the turnout and how many people came.”

Above all else, the real success was the impact that this egg hunt had on the people who came. For Pastor Leach, it was rewarding to make a difference and see the smiles of those in attendance.

“It’s rewarding, it gives you a lot of joy to know that you can make a difference in somebody else’s life,” Pastor Leach said. “That you can take the gifts, the time, the creativity that you’ve been given and repackage it and give it away so that somebody else, you know, put a smile on somebody else’s face.” robert.cruz@temple.edu

MOVING