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Victoria care home residents delighted by ‘Easter bunny’, freshly hatched chicks

Kiwanis Pavilion residents hunted for Easter eggs and pet newborn chicks Thursday

Determined to spread some spring cheer, Janet Morningstar donned her bunny ears and hopped over to the Kiwanis Pavilion this week.

Vice president of the Kiwanis Pavilion Foundation, which fundraises for the Pavilion, Morningstar knew there wasn’t much they could do to celebrate Easter this year, but wanted to do something. So, she dropped off two heaping baskets of chocolate eggs and a cake.

The Pavilion is home to 122 residents with complex care needs. On Thursday, they were delighted to get to partake in an Easter egg hunt and pet their six newly hatched chicks.

Named by the residents, Cordness, Peeps, Chichi, Fluffy, Chicklet and Monsieur Poulet cracked out of their shells Tuesday and Wednesday, arriving just in time for Easter. It’s a program the Pavilion has run for three years now and it’s always a hit.

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“I think I can feel his heart beat,” one of the residents said, gently grasping one of the chicks in his outstretched hands Thursday afternoon. Volunteer coordinator Krista Campbell said many of the residents are reminded of when they grew up on farms or had chickens themselves.

The Pavilion will keep the chicks for another two weeks before sending them to Bees Please Farm in Happy Valley where, once fully grown, they will be rented out to people for eggs. Sometimes, Campbell said, the owner of the farm will even send photos of the chicks as they grow up back to the residents.

For a week after the chicks depart, chicken is off the menu Campbell said with a laugh.

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