No‘bunny’ does it like East Meadow

The sun was shining as dozens of children raced into Diane Radtke’s backyard in search of colorful plastic eggs during her 25th community Easter egg hunt on April 2.

The East Meadow resident placed 2, 047 eggs throughout her backyard. Each egg was filled with a little toy, candy or even money for children throughout Nassau County. “It takes me a few months to fill them all,” she said.

The first hunt consisted of eight children and 600 eggs and has only grown since then. After a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021 the hunt is back and better than ever.

People who come to the hunt bring canned food and household items to donate to the food pantry at St. Raphael’s Roman Catholic Church in East Meadow and this year there were over five boxes filled and ready to go.

There were also lots of snacks and drinks for children to enjoy. The Easter Bunny was in attendance.

“I started this 25 years ago when my kids were little because we’ve been to Easter egg hunts where if you’re not the fastest you’re not going to get an egg,” she said. “Everyone here gets an egg and has a good time.”