Eggs in the Easy prepares for relief trip

Three years ago, looking out the airplane window on his way back to school from a fraternity conference, Nelson Davis, a fifth-year Civil and Environmental Engineering major, had a revelation: he was going to stage the city's largest charity Easter egg hunt ever.

Over time, however, the idea got lost in a storm of tests, meetings and logistical issues. But when Rick Harper, the head of Tech's Christian Campus Fellowship (CCF), got a call in December from a church in Colorado, that lost idea rose from the ashes stronger than ever. An anonymous donor had given the group money to spend in the Gulf Coast in a creative and "fun" way. So Nelson, a two-time veteran of Geaux to the Gulf, CCF-sponsored trips to rebuild communities hurt by Hurricane Katrina, chimed in with his perfect idea: an Easter egg hunt. The hunt was on.

The event does not simply stop with an egg hunt. On Friday, April 6, volunteers from Tech, UGA, Kennesaw State, West Georgia and Auburn will make the seven hour trip to eastern New Orleans.

That Saturday, they will spend their time cleaning up the park, building a large playground, publicizing the event and stuffing thousands of plastic eggs.

Then comes the main event-this Easter Sunday, the volunteers will throw a free picnic in the park for the community, culminating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a massive Easter egg hunt.

One week before the event, the volunteer count is at 370 students from Tech alone, with other schools supplying another 80 volunteers.

"Having so many volunteers is a blessing and a burden, since we were only planning on 250 students to attend," Davis said.

So while the trip's planning committee's prayers are going out to all the victims of Katrina, they are also praying for some funds. They have had a lot of help, receiving donations such as 20,000 plastic eggs and wholesale candy. A company called Kaboom!, whose mission is to have a playground within walking distance of every kid in America, granted the group several scholarships to a playground building seminar.

"[This] will prove vital to our success in our project...now we know what we're getting ourselves into," Nelson said.

But supplying food and housing for 400, plus transportation, tools and supplies is a costly feat, and they still have a long way to go.

The other two Geaux initiatives experienced similar problems.

The first one was set to be canceled two days before the trip because the committee was short 20,000 dollars. That morning, an 8,000 dollar donation came in, that afternoon 10,000 came in, and by the end of the day the final 2,000 showed up-the exact 20,000 dollar amount they needed.

For the second trip, organizers were preparing volunteers to pay a part of their costs when a donation of 12,000 dollars came in, again on the Wednesday before the trip. But right now the group is about 30,000 dollars away from where they need to be, and people are getting nervous that another miracle might not happen. For anyone who would like to help, personal donations can be made at www.eggsintheeasy.org.

Why an egg hunt? A little known fact is that childhood depression (and likely adult depression as well) is up 400 percent in the Gulf area from its pre-Katrina levels, affecting over 10,000 children in the region. It is easy to see why many kids might be having a hard time. They have survived a traumatic experience, often times without comfortable accommodations, let alone toys and playgrounds.

"Some of these kids can't even play in their yards because they're living in a FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] trailer on their front lawn. We want to create an oasis where they can relax, play or whatever. Most importantly, we want to remind them that people care about them and what they're going through, and help them regain some glimmer of their normal lives," Davis said.

Davis, CCF and all the volunteers have a lot of work ahead of them. Luckily, it seems like they have someone, somewhere looking out for them. Maybe miracles really do come in threes.