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Hampton deputies escort Easter Bunny to visit children at local nonprofit

Posted at 6:06 PM, Mar 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-29 18:06:26-04

HAMPTON, Va. - The Easter Bunny made an early appearance Wednesday morning.

Deputies with the Hampton Sheriff's Office escorted the bunny to visit the kids at the Hampton Healthy Families headquarters. About 75 children eagerly waited the bunny's arrival.

"It feels great to give back to the community to bring the bunny here for the kids to see the bunny. It just a great thing," said Master Deputy Julius Wormley. "It brings me back to my own childhood, seeing the Easter Bunny, old Cotton Tail."

Each child got a stuffed bunny and their picture taken with the Easter Bunny.

The event was in partnership with the Hampton Sheriff's Department and the Easter Bunny Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a personal visit from the Easter Bunny to children in children's hospitals and pediatric wards across the country.

The project began in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and expanded nationally in 2004. Since then, the Easter Bunny has visited more than 2,600 children. Last year, the bunny visited more than 200 children's hospitals or pediatric wards in 35 states and visited more than 16,000 hospitalized children for Easter thanks to 112 law enforcement officials.