Monday, May 12, 2025
The children of Lakeview enjoyed a festive Easter celebration last Saturday, highlighted by the community’s first Hoppy Hunt, which it plans to turn into an annual event. More than 250 people attended, taking part in a range of activities and hunting for over 1,000 eggs.
“This is our first annual Easter egg hunt for Lakeview,” Lataya Carter, founder of Believe at Bellaire Inc., a nonprofit that hosts community events, said at the event, which took place at Harold Walker Memorial Park. “Everybody came out to help today. This is a completely free event — nothing is being charged.”
Children had the chance to paint Easter eggs, create slime, color in worksheets, and decorate tote bags that they used for the egg hunt. There were several special activities as well, including a clinic led by the Malverne High School cheer team, a football clinic featuring the high school football team, and instruction in Double Dutch jump rope and basketball drills led by the Long Island Panthers.
“We partnered with Lataya and her organization to do the Easter egg hunt and the clinics,” Ladonna Taylor, executive director of the Nassau County Office of Youth Services, explained. “We’re here for the youth — whatever we can do to help the youth and help our communities, that’s what we do.” The Office of Youth Services, which oversees a range of projects throughout the county for at-risk youth, is part of the county’s Department of Human Services.
“We’re celebrating Easter with the local communities,” Serena Riera, a program coordinator with the Office of Youth Services, said. “We’re providing some educational and fun activities for the kids.”
The event also featured an opportunity for young adults to learn from a licensed electrician in a workshop hosted by Hubbard Electrical Construction LLC, which Carter is developing into a certification course available to the community.
At a decorated photo booth, children and families could have their picture taken with the Easter bunny. There was face-painting for the kids, and clowns offered them balloons. In separate egg hunts for younger and older children, the eggs were filled with candy and small toys, and afterward there were snow cones, popcorn, cotton candy and hot dogs as well.
Mel J, from JXCutz Barbershop, in West Hempstead, offered children free holiday haircuts, and the other activities included a talent show, a spelling bee and a pizza-eating contest, as well as a magic show by Uncle Majic and a video game truck.
“It’s all about community, all about the kids, and keeping them in a safe place,” said Lorenzo Jenkins, coach of the Long Island Panthers basketball program, who also served as DJ for the event.
