Children unite at duck pond
Selpark CPF hosted an Easter egg hunt for the children of Chance Children's Home on Sunday.
Pierre Taljaard, CPF chairman, and his team invited several charities to the George Sutter Park duck pond, but most of the organisations had already been invited to other events.
“When the staff at Chance called us, we were most happy to host the Easter egg hunt for approximately 50 children,” he says.
Pierre’s wife, Patsy, CPF fundraiser, says the day was about spoiling underprivileged children.
“These children did not ask to be in the situation they are in,” she says.
The organisers felt it best to work on a ticket system to give each child the opportunity to receive enough Easter eggs.
The younger children each received a yellow card where as the teenagers were given a green card.
“We had enough green and yellow stickers pasted to the trees and playground apparatus in the park for the children to find,” says Patsy.
Several bikers from different clubs also supported the event.
All the children gathered under the trees at the starting point, eagerly waiting for Patsy to blow the whistle.
When the whistle blew, they all ran into different directions looking for the stickers which would be replaced with the same number of Easter eggs.
When Patsy saw the children running she observed a sense of freedom in them.
“The emotion is overwhelming,” she says.
Petro Taljaard (13) and her sister Zandré Taljaard (17) were both dressed up as Easter bunnies who handed out ice pops and, later during the day, more Easter eggs.
Patricia Mafika, child care worker from Chance, says they are impressed with the way the day was organised.
Read: Chance Children’s Home gets treated to a massive donation
When the children arrived, they were given cold drink and had to dip their hands in paint and press their hand prints onto an A2 carton board.
“This gesture and the Easter egg hunt is proof to the children that there are people who still care about them,” says Patricia.
Before retuning to the home, the children each enjoyed a boerewors roll and were given mealies to feed the ducks and geese at the pond.
