HOISINGTON — Imagine waking up Easter morning to a yard filled with candy-stuffed plastic eggs and a note from the Easter Bunny (with help from local high school students). The Hoisington High School Chapter of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) will assist the yearly fury yard visitor with their annual “Egg My House” event on Saturday, April 3.
“We’ve been doing this for three years now and it’s always been a fun event for our community and our FCCLA students to participate,” said club advisor Karla Reisner. Reisner said orders can be placed via email or phone and eggs will be delivered to yards within 30 minutes.
“Just order the number of eggs that you would like delivered by March 31,” said Reisner. “And a note will be left on your door letting you know how many eggs to search for.”
Egg count and prices are as follows:
• 10 eggs for $5
• 20 eggs for $10
• 30 eggs for $15
• 40 eggs for $20
• 50 eggs for $25
Orders can be placed by emailing Reisner at kreisner@usd431.net or by calling 620-653-2141.
Distribution
“The plan is to meet at the high school on Saturday (April 3) around 7 p.m. and divide up all the routes,” said Reisner. “Then we will go and deliver the eggs and place a note on the front door, mail box or someplace that is visible that tells people how many eggs there are.” She added that several gift eggs will be included in the distribution. “So it’s nice for them to know how many eggs to look for.”
Reisner explained that the idea for Egg My House came about as a result of a much-needed cash deposit.
“In our first year, we had a student who qualified for nationals and we needed to have money for a deposit fast,” said Reisner. “As we talked about it, one of my officers designed a poster and we were out the next weekend delivering 1,200 eggs.”
As a result, the Hoisington FCCLA collected enough money to jumpstart what would turn into an annual fundraising success story. “I had seen the idea on Facebook and then talked to the students,” Reisner said. “The cool thing is that the students like to help each other out which helped us raise the needed funding and attend the national meeting.”
Proceeds from this year’s fundraiser will assist in sending five FCCLA members and an advisor to the 2021 National Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, June 27 through July 2.
Working through the COVID-19 pandemic
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students were not able to attend the national meeting last summer in Washington, D.C.
Despite the pandemic, last year’s Egg My House was a complete success, said Reisner. “We had taken orders for the eggs and so we contacted everyone to see if they still wanted them,” she said. Students were not able to hide the eggs, so they were dropped off at people’s houses for the parents to hide. “We are so glad we will be able to hide them this year.”
Helping parents
Reisner said the project benefits the Hoisington community and surrounding area in that it assists parents in preparing for the Easter holiday.
“It takes away some of the hustle and bustle for parents so they can focus more on spending quality time with their children,” said Reisner. “It’s also a way to help out a local school organization that you see in the community.”
Community response
“It’s been terrific,” said Reisner. “We have had over 2,000 eggs sold. There have been a lot of thank you notes by parents who said they are a lot less stressed because the eggs are already in the yard the night before Easter.”
She added that the fundraiser has also helped develop and strengthen student camaraderie. “The students have so much fun with it,” said Reisner. “They get together and spend time with their friends doing something good for others.”
Hoisington FCCLA Chapter President ShaiAnn Montoya said other FCCLA groups from other communities have caught wind of Hoisington’s yearly fundraiser. “After our first year, we had other FCCLA chapters contact us about doing it in their communities,” said Montoya. “We noticed other organizations participating around our area this year also.” She added, “It’s so cool that people are doing what a group of us high schoolers started.”
About FCCLA
FCCLA is a national Career and Technical Student Organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public and private school through grade 12. FCCLA offers intracurricular resources and opportunities for students to pursue careers that support families. Since 1945, FCCLA members have been making a difference in their families, careers and communities by addressing important personal, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education.
