While Donielle White may live in Luling today, her ties to St. Rose are forever – as is her desire to uplift the area’s youth however she can.
“I was born and raised in St. Rose … really, most of these kids are related to me or are family in some way, shape or form,” said White, a paraeducator at Albert Cammon Middle School in St. Rose. “And I want to give back to the community we were raised in.”
White is about to host her second annual Easter egg hunt event in St. Rose on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be held at Parquet Park (190 Short Street) and there will be food, games, prizes and music for those attending – and of course, a chance to find those Easter eggs and the candy inside of them.
There will be spacewalks – one for toddlers and one for older children – a coloring station set up courtesy of the St. Rose Library, face painting, a chalk station, game truck and bubbles. White said there is an effort being made to try and add a train ride to the already stacked list of activities. And, through a partnership with Toys for Tots, there will be a toy giveaway.
“And everything is 100 percent free,” White said.
Last year, White set out to make a difference in her community. The first Easter egg hunt was a part of that, as was a community dance team she assembled. While the dance team was ultimately discontinued, she didn’t want that to derail the overall effort of uplifting St. Rose however she could.
“I’ve felt like we don’t have many giveaways or things for kids to do,” White said. “The goal of the dance team was for more community outreach and to give back … we don’t have the team this year, but I want to continue what I started.”
She said the excitement of the children at the event last year was all she needed to see to know she wanted to continue on with the event into the future.
“They were so happy … each kid left with two, some with three toys, and candy,” White said. “One of the best parts about it was that there were a lot of kids willing to stay after and clean up. They really enjoyed it. We saw so many different kids from the neighborhood and most can even walk to the park since it isn’t far at all.”
White said that the activities will be ongoing once children arrive, but the one event to take place at a specific time will be the egg hunt which begins around 2 p.m.
She added anyone who might like to volunteer or donate – be it monetarily or specific items like plastic eggs, candy to go in the eggs, chips, drinks etc. – may contact her at (985) 703-1812.
