Kids collect thousands of eggs during annual Como Community Easter Egg Hunt in Fort Worth

Dozens of volunteers in bright yellow T-shirts watched eagerly as a U-Haul pulled up at the Como Community Center on Saturday morning, just minutes before the annual Como Community Easter Egg Hunt began.

Members of the Lady Jag’s Social & Charity Club made quick work of the hundreds of Easter baskets inside, certainly faster than the hundreds of hours it took the community organization to handcraft each one, according to founder Carolyn Chance.

“I love people. I love giving. I don’t know who I am without it,” she said.

Como Community Center director Carol Brown double-checked that the U-Haul was blocking traffic into the parking lot, as it was already packed with families ready to enjoy the day’s festivities.

Brown has been overseeing Easter celebrations for years, saying, “It’s for the community, and it’s for tradition.” This year, she said, the center anticipated serving three hundred to four hundred local families.

Milliona Sharpe, 9, Samantha Turner, 9, and Monique Hill, 15, a few of the first children to arrive, were snacking on shaved ice and excitedly talking over one another before the Easter egg hunt began. “I’m excited,” Sharpe said.

“It’s going to be egg-cellent,” quipped Hill as the girls dissolved into giggles.

Shortly after the event’s start at 11, hundreds of people filled the parking lot, rotating between the free Kona Ice truck, bounce houses and outdoor games spread across the parking lot. Children clutched Easter baskets and asked again when the egg hunt would begin.

Five minutes after noon, hundreds of kids perched at the edge of the grass. They leaned forward, preparing to take off and collect eggs as soon as the order was given.

More than a thousand brightly colored plastic eggs filled a field adjacent to the Como Community Center. That didn’t last more than five minutes after children blasted onto the field, scooping up eggs by the handful before rushing onward.

A couple of diligent kids stayed on the field for an extra 10 minutes, searching nooks and crannies near the bounce houses to find hidden eggs. The rest of the crowd surged back toward the parking lot to carefully count their eggs.

Sharpe, Turner and Hill sat on the curb, still holding their cups of mostly melted shaved ice and inspecting their haul.

“I only got six eggs,” Turner said with a smile, “but it was awesome.”