Orange Church Spreads Easter Joy by the Basketful

The Reynaga children counted down the days until the Easter Bunny would bring goodies, but no baskets will appear at the feet of their beds this morning.

Instead, Eduardo, 6, and his brother Isidro, 7, joined 1,000 other children on the playing fields of St. Norbert Catholic Church on Saturday to fill their baskets themselves.

By the end of the party, they had paper bunny ears on their heads, painted rabbit whiskers on their weary faces and stuffed plastic Easter baskets under their arms.

“They really look forward to this,” said their father, Isidro, an Anaheim machine operator. “They talk about it for a long, long time.”

About 100 volunteers joined forces with 30 corporate sponsors at the party, an annual event that seeks to ensure underprivileged children have a joyful Easter.

“This is Easter for some of these kids,” said Regina Cuozzo, one of the event organizers. “A lot of us will have another Easter egg hunt in our homes tomorrow, but for some of these kids, this is it.”

The children started the day by placing empty baskets of all shapes and sizes before Father John Janze, for a traditional Easter blessing.

Four “bunnies,” wilting in the 90-degree heat under fluffy costumes and floppy-eared hoods, led the youngsters to the church’s playing field. Close to 5,000 plastic eggs stuffed with candy and prizes had been strewn on the grass for the tumultuous hunt.

The brightly colored eggs disappeared into the baskets within minutes amid the laughter and excited screams of the children.

Afterward, they drifted back to the church’s school for games and face-painting.

The church’s first Easter party, in 1981, was much smaller. That year parish volunteer Mary Anne Wilson helped organize a party for the low-income families who came each Saturday to pick up a food box.

Over the years, the celebration has grown to attract high-profile sponsors such as McDonald’s, Knott’s Berry Farm, AMC Movies and Proctor & Gamble, all of which donate goods, tickets and discount coupons.

Volunteers baked more than 2,000 cookies and corporations and small businesses donated hundreds of toys, oranges, candy bars, articles of clothing, prizes and even toothbrushes for the goodies bags that each family received.

The event gives the church a chance to loosen up its image. “Sometimes people think of church as a serious place, but it’s also a joyful place,” Janze said.

Parishioner Regina Cuozzo also sees the party as a way to mix parishioners who attend Spanish-only masses with the English-speaking members.

“This builds our parish community,” she said. “It’s my goal to bridge the Spanish and English communities. Partying is something we can all do together.”