Q&A on Young Women’s League Annual Easter Egg Hunt

 

Here’s something that doesn’t matter when you’re a kid looking for candy-filled Easter eggs: It’s raining outside.

The Young Women’s League of New Canaan made accommodations for this icky weather by holding the Annual Easter Egg Hunt, at New Canaan High School. The event starts at 9:30 a.m today—Saturday, April 5—and benefits the Young Women’s League Giving Fund.

NewCanaanite.com caught up with the organization’s president, Nicole Cribbins, to talk about the community event, the league’s work and the Giving Fund, specifically, and the critical importance of participation from our businesses. Sponsors for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt are Playland, Cobble Court Interiors, Bankwell, New Canaan Cleaners, Pepé Motors, Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee and New Canaan Toy Store.
Here’s our exchange:

New Canaanite: New Canaan loves its Easter Egg Hunts, always has. I see you’ve got the popular egg hunt itself as well as other fun stuff. What can attendees expect to enjoy during this event?

Nicole Cribbins: The Young Women’s League Annual Easter Egg Hunt will have many fun things for families to enjoy. The YWL Easter Egg Hunt is on April 5th at 9:30am at New Canaan High School this year. It is one of our most beloved fundraising events of the year. It brings in approximately 2,000 people (which includes at least 500 kids). And is open to the public.

We hold an Easter Egg Hunt for the children where they “hunt” for 10,000 eggs filled with candy and coupons. These eggs are stuffed with an all hands effort by our YWL volunteers, the Girls Scouts, and friends! There are bounce houses, pictures with the Easter Bunny, a ride on Old Faithful, the Masqueraders Dixieland Band will perform, there will be face painting, plus we sell over 1000 baked goods (all made by our volunteers), tons of fun Easter novelty items to purchase, and many other things! We have many generous sponsors that help us to make this event a reality and success. Please come! There is something for everyone!

It’s a family event and it’s also a fundraiser for the Young Women’s League of New Canaan Giving Fund. Talk about a few of the ways that the league and Giving Fund specifically meet some of our community’s needs, as well as how central that civic-minded mission is to the league itself.

The YWL feels it is important to give back to the community both by awarding grants to organizations that are helping individuals in need and also by hands on community outreach. In this way, we are able to broaden our reach throughout Fairfield County. In our local New Canaan community, we have awarded grants to numerous local organizations which impact our town’s citizens including Person-to-Person, ABC House, Horizons, Summer Theatre of New Canaan, Getabout, New Canaan Library and more. Each year we award a scholarship to a New Canaan High School student who demonstrates outstanding leadership and dedication to service. Additionally, League members contribute to various drives throughout our giving year which have benefited the New Canaan Food Pantry, Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, Carver Center and others. As an organization, the YWL seeks to give where needed and to recognize those in our community (such as with the scholarship) who are making an effort as well. At the end of the day we are about helping others, and we are fortunate that we have events such as the Easter Egg Hunt, that allow us to have fun, benefit our town and raise money while we are working towards our goal of doing that. 

I see Bankwell, New Canaan Dry Cleaners, Zumbach’s (of Caffeine & Carburetors fame) and New Canaan Toy Store (which we’re told is also supporting the town’s “30 Days of Family” initiative) are among your sponsors. Talk to us about how important these businesses are to this event and how much the Young Women’s League of New Canaan, in general, values its partnerships with local merchants and other organizations.

Finding sponsors is a critical part of the YWL being able to put on events and ultimately to raise money for all of the non-profits that we seek to support. Without successful partnerships, the Young Women’s League could not do what we do. It speaks a lot about who we are as an organization and what we do that we have consistently had the support of many local businesses since the early stages of the League, and we are incredibly appreciative of all of the local businesses who work with us. It is a win-win for us and our sponsors to be able to give back to the community in such a meaningful way.