A free Easter egg hunt featuring thousands of toy-filled eggs, live animals, and the Easter Bunny, and family activities will take place Sunday afternoon at Thali Indian Grill in a community event organized to raise funds for a local pageant contestant.
The Easter egg hunt is scheduled from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at Thali Indian Grill and is being organized in partnership with Being Humane USVI, a nonprofit founded by restaurant owners Gary and Sally Udhwani.
“We did the Easter egg hunt last year and it was a great success. People called and asked if we were going to repeat it this year, so we’re bringing it back by public demand,” Gary said.
The event is designed with children and families in mind, with activities planned throughout the afternoon, including games, music and opportunities to interact with animals.
“This is really meant to be a fun community event,” he said. “There will be games for the kids, animals they can pet like turtles, ducks and bunnies, plus raffles and music.”
In addition to the egg hunt itself, organizers said there will be cookie-decorating, drawing and painting stations, bouncy houses and the Easter Bunny.
A number of local businesses have backed the event, including The Beauty Corner, Offshore Real Estate, Consolidated Shipping, Rapier Med, Solar 340 and several local jewelry stores that contributed raffle prizes and financial support.
Organizers said approximately 3,000 eggs will be hidden across the venue, each filled with toys. “The eggs the children hunt for aren’t empty. We’ve got about 3,000 eggs, and they’re filled with toys.” Gary said.
Admission to the event is free, with attendees paying only for food or optional participation in games and raffles. Proceeds from ticketed games and raffles will go toward helping a local contestant cover the costs of an upcoming pageant.
“The proceeds from the raffle and the games will go to help support Liliana Bryan, a contestant for Little Miss U.S. Virgin Islands,” Gary said.
He added that the raffles are expected to be a major draw for attendees.
“The raffle is actually the most fun part of it, because we receive so many gifts that we have to do a raffle like every 10 to 15 minutes to be able to give all these things away,” Gary said. Raffle prizes include items donated by local jewelry stores and other businesses, as well as goods purchased with earlier cash donations to Being Humane.
The fundraiser is one of several community initiatives undertaken recently by Being Humane USVI. In addition to Sunday’s event, the nonprofit has provided assistance to federal workers affected by pay disruptions.
“Through Being Humane, we recently provided 60 lunches to TSA employees here in the Virgin Islands because they weren’t getting paid,” Gary said. “Next, we plan to provide lunch for other federal agents as well.”
He added that the group intentionally keeps its mission broad so it can respond to a variety of needs as they arise.
“We didn’t form the organization for a single purpose, so we can support anything that comes to us looking for help,” he said. “It’s a new organization that we just built last year. We’re developing it as we go.”
Being Humane USVI operates by funding events up front and then donating the proceeds to local causes. Gary said that by using events to raise money, the group can often donate more, pointing to past efforts where similar fundraisers have multiplied what the couple could give on their own.
Sally Udhwani, founder of Being Humane, said the organization is planning additional community events in the months ahead.
“In November, Being Humane is going to host its next gala, and we are focusing on benefiting the hospital with that,” she said. The group is working with hospital leadership to identify specific supplies that could be purchased and donated directly.
Organizers say Sunday’s Easter egg hunt offers families a way to support those broader efforts while giving children a festive afternoon of activities.
“We encourage everyone to come out,” Gary said. “It’s a fun event for the community, and it supports a child and other causes through Being Humane.”
