Children from both Masiphumelele and Ocean View were thrilled to receive Easter eggs as a treat and join an Easter egg hunt this past Saturday.
This was the brain-child of Luke Koeries of Ocean View, founder of Kids are Kids, and March 30 marked the third consecutive year that the young resident has made this sort of effort for the children in his neighbourhood.
Luke launched the idea on social media and excitedly posted about each donation of Easter eggs received – the grand total this year was 12 474 eggs. Yes – he counted them.
“Because of the generosity of the people and businesses in Ocean View and beyond, we reached 6 182 children on Saturday. For that day, my ideal was reached because the kids were just kids again. They were playing and laughing and having a good time together like they are meant to,” he said.
There was a very special visitor among the guests on the day – Sergeant Riedewaan Isaacs of Ocean View police station.
“Sergeant Isaacs was my dad’s partner back in the day,” Luke explained.
Those who know Luke, also know he lost his policeman father when he was young, and that Kids are Kids was formed to create the sort of world that Luke’s father always dreamed of seeing, and worked hard as a police officer to try and create.
Sergeant Isaacs visited the event in his SAPS response car and contributed to the sweet treats for the children.
At noon, Luke and members of Kids are Kids handed out Easter eggs in Masi, then the event in Ocean View kicked off.
There were local performers (Luke believes in showcasing local talent to show children that there is a future in using creative talent) and some fancy cars whose owners showed off their modifications and spinning wheels.
“We had so much fun with the Easter egg hunt, then we drove through the streets of Ocean View with the lights and sirens from the police van and fire truck, and handed out Easter eggs to the rest of the children,” Luke said.
He also thanked every single contributor for their donations, saying an idea could not come to life without help and although the idea was his, it was the donations that made the event such a success.