Beeping easter egg hunt in Edmonton for kids with vision loss

Easter egg hunts are a tradition for many families, but it hasn’t always been accessible to all.

Osarume Osula, 13, has moderate vision loss and has never had the opportunity to search for eggs in the past. He and his family returned for the second annual Beeping Eggs Project.

“It’s been really fun, it’s been enjoyable just playing with me and my siblings,” he says. “I didn’t really get that experience, and being here hunting for eggs has been very fulfilling.”

The Edmonton Police Foundation and bomb unit partnered with the Canadian Institute for the Blind to make the accessible event happen for the second year in a row.

“So many of these kids who are here today, they haven’t been able to participate in an easter egg hunt before, so being able to do something like this, especially partnered with the police, it creates such a community event, it lets kids be kids just like their sighted siblings and friends,” says Amber Dujay, manager of programs and operations for Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

“Our goal at CNIB is to make sure kids get to live their lives like everyone else.”

The event is inspired by the Rachel Project, where U.S. law enforcement bomb technicians use their skills and spare time to make audible electronic eggs for children with sight loss to locate using their hearing.

EPS Detective Ryan Katcher brought the initiative to Western Canada for the first time in 2022.

Acting deputy chief, Nicole Chapdelaine says the heartwarming event couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It brings us a sense of pride and a bit of happiness and joy, something we are all looking for right now in the midst of everything, so the timing of this is great, I’m happy it worked out this weekend, so I think there is a lot of real joy for everybody,” she says.

“We’ve had a hard month of March for the organization and the community together, so it’s nice to be able to bring everyone together and enjoy a beautiful day like today and especially bring these kids out, and to share something many of us had the opportunity to do while utilizing our eyes. But recognizing there is a group of kids who don’t always get to enjoy this, so to see our members come with this initiative and then have them come out here and enjoy it together is a really good feeling.”

More than 30 families registered for the 2nd annual event. The Edmonton Police Service hopes to continue the new tradition for many years.