- September 21, 2024
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Megan Ohman participates in the sensory-friendly Easter egg hunt on April 6 at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Abigail and Jessica Tasted, and Theresa and Cassidy Hourican participate in the sensory-friendly Easter egg hunt on April 6 at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Dozens of beeping eggs were donated from organizations across the state. These allow children with visual impairment to locate the eggs through hearing. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Welcoming Hearts Founder Chasity Hanners and her son Jacob pose at the end of their first successful Easter egg hunt at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Greyson Frechette participates in the sensory-friendly Easter egg hunt on April 6 at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Quinn Duncan participates in the sensory-friendly Easter egg hunt on April 6 at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Megan Ohman participates in the sensory-friendly Easter egg hunt on April 6 at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Branson Hughes and Noah Arazashvili get a photo with the Easter Bunny after participating in the sensory-friendly Easter egg hunt on April 6 at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa.
Aubree Hughes and Emili Adams get a photo with the Easter Bunny after participating in the sensory-friendly Easter egg hunt on April 6 at Buschman Park in Port Orange. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Port Orange families became a part of the first-annual Easter Eggstravaganza, a sensory-friendly Easter Egg hunt hosted by Welcoming Hearts on Saturday, April 6.
Chasity Hanners started Welcoming Hearts because there were no Down Syndrome support groups in the Port Orange area. Before Welcoming Hearts, Hanners and her son Jacob had to travel to Lakeland for activities and support groups specific to his needs. Starting Welcoming Hearts was a way to make an impact for local families, as well as their own.
“My husband and I decided we had to do something in order to include everybody,” Hanners said.
Hanners realized that families with special needs children can often experience discomfort in areas with a lot of people and noise. So, she chose to give local families a viable option for entertainment.
“We started as a parent support group, and expanded by adding parent’s night out, teen social groups, and now we have our first-annual-sensory friendly Easter egg hunt,” Hanners said.
The Florida Braille and Talking Books Library provided education and learning materials at the event to further promote reading solutions for children who have a learning disability or are visually impaired. This service is provided for free by the Library of Congress.
Kathy Acevedo, representative of the Florida Braille and Talking Books Library, has seen numerous cases of how the library has provided education and entertainment for people with disabilities that make it difficult to read.
“I want families to be able to come out, knowing there is no judgement and that we are all in this together,” Hanners said.
