Families of Schuylkill and Carbon County were glad they were at home on Saturday when the Easter Bunny paid them a surprise visit.

Church Home Organization School and Environment (C.H.O.S.E.) is a nonprofit organization located in Coaldale that hosted the event. The organization was established in 1957 and hosts fundraisers to raise money for future activities for the children of the community, as well as improving town playgrounds.

Angela Krapf, president of C.H.O.S.E. since 2008, came up with the idea to dress as the Easter Bunny after seeing multiple posts on Facebook about kids who were upset because they wouldn’t get to meet the Easter Bunny this year.

“COVID-19 has brought such fear to everyone … and has changed things in our lives we never realized mattered so much,” Krapf said. “It was bothering me that the innocence and magic of Easter wasn’t going to be the same for kids this year.”

Keith Krapf, police chief of Coaldale, called around to nearby police departments to make sure they would be OK with the sirens and trucks riding through town. Following a suggestion from her husband, Angela Krapf reached out to fire companies to invite them to participate. In her words, “everyone was all for it.”

C.H.O.S.E. decided to extend the parade to all Panther Valley towns and Tamaqua due to the community’s support to the nonprofit by attending Coaldale events. C.H.O.S.E. members posted about the event one week in advance and continued to inform members of any updates or change of schedule.

The Facebook group was active on the day of the event with members of the public notifying each other of the Easter Bunny’s whereabouts and providing estimates on when he’d arrive in certain towns.

Both during and after the event, members expressed gratitude by commenting their thanks or posting videos and pictures directly to the C.H.O.S.E. Facebook page.

Melissa McCloskey of Tamaqua posted a video of her kids waving to the Easter Bunny and the firetrucks and police vehicles that drove by.

McCloskey thanked the nonprofit and Panther Valley fire companies and wrote, “It was so awesome seeing my kids’ faces light up from seeing the bunny parade. … It brought me to tears … knowing that our community is always there for our kids.”

In a wrap-up post on Facebook about the parade, Krapf expressed gratitude to Bertha Shreffler of Nesquehoning and her granddaughters who strung together plastic egg decorations, local fire and police departments, and all C.H.O.S.E. members who made the event possible.