The Journey Church Community is getting all set for its 11^th Annual Easter EGGstravaganza which will take place Saturday, March 30 from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Freedom Park in Eldersburg. 

When the Journey Church began 11 years ago, they were looking for something they could do to impact and serve the local community. That is when they decided to host the first Easter Egg Hunt.

Pastor Steve Lowe and event organizer Liz Clark, who has jokingly come to be known as the ‘egg lady,’ were surprised at just how many kids came out for their very first Easter Egg hunt. 

“We almost didn’t have enough eggs that year,” Clark recalls.

So the following year, the church increased their egg inventory from 2,000 to 5,000. But once again, the event grew right along with the number of eggs. 

“The third year we had 7,000 eggs, the fourth year 8,000, the fifth year 10,000, and finally, the 8^th year, we capped the eggs off to how many we have this year, 20,000,” Clark said.

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So how does an event of this caliber come to fruition?

On Sunday, March 17. 100 volunteers from the church and students earning service hours from Liberty High School gathered at the Freedom Community Optimist Hall to help fill eggs. The task took all 100 volunteers 3.5 hours to stuff the 20,000 Easter Eggs each with a piece of candy and a sticker, organizers said.  

Also included inside some of the eggs are coupons to Rita’s and Tristar Martial Arts.

Where do you store 20,000 Easter eggs? Currently, the eggs reside at Freedom Optimist Hall and in whatever other office space the church happens to have available. During the year, the eggs are packed in a storage container pod and kept by a volunteer member of the church at their home.

All together, the event costs $4,000 and usually draws an average of 1,000 kids plus their families. The church relies on donations from the community and local businesses in order to raise the money. 

The hunt is created for kids, up to nine years old and will take place in four separate age groupings.  Also available will be four moon bounces, live music, face-painting and the Easter Bunny. 

To help defray the cost of the event, concessions will be for sale including hot dogs, sodas and chips.

For more information, contact Liz Clark at 410-404-2492 or email her at clarkfam5@verizon.net.