LAFAYETTE – Nathan Marshall, out of breath from running across a field, could barely carry the bag he filled during Sunday’s hunt.
Instead of eggs, he was loaded down with canned food.
“We’re giving all these food cans to a food bank,” the 7-year-old said.
Lafayette’s Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship held its second annual Easter Soup Hunt on Sunday.
The church, which is comprised of people with a variety of beliefs and backgrounds, decided to try an unconventional approach.
“I love it,” said Rachel Setzke, who helped organize the hunt and brought her 17-month-old and 3-year-old children. “Kids can get all competitive over plastic eggs, but here it’s a great time.”
Church leaders said hunting for plastic eggs didn’t mesh well with the group’s commitment to sustainable living. April also is the church’s month to put together a food drive for the Boulder County AIDS Project. Plus there was the deluge of other community and family egg hunts.
“This has a little more meaning,” Setzke said. “It fits in well with the season – the season of new life.”
Sunday, a couple dozen children flooded the field next to the church to scout out soup, tuna and vegetable cans donated by parishioners and hidden in tree branches, under bushes and in grass tufts.
In keeping with the theme, the children used paper grocery bags instead of baskets to collect the cans. They also had to unload their finds frequently, with several bags breaking under the weight of the food.
By the end of the hunt, a red wagon was overflowing with canned food, ready to be loaded in a car and taken to the Boulder County AIDS Project.
“It’s fun to find things and help other people,” 9-year-old Caleigh Kneale said.
