Wayne County children meet Easter Bunny, get baskets at Trenton giveaway

Metro Detroit children huddled at Trenton's Kennedy Recreation Center on Saturday where the Wayne County Sheriff's Office was offering free Easter gift baskets through the afternoon.

Scarlett Goroni, a 7-year-old girl from Brownstown Township, was so excited when she heard about the event that she and her family left midway through lunch to get to Trenton in time, her mother Allison Goroni, 42, said.

Scarlett Goroni, who loves the Easter holiday to begin with, said she was overjoyed then to find a stuffed puppy toy, crayons and a juice box in her basket when she arrived to the giveaway site at the recreation center's parking lot.

"This is really cool," Allison Goroni said. "I've never seen anything like this."

The Wayne County Sheriff's Office partnered with Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries to pack 1,000 Easter baskets for their afternoon in Trenton, Sheriff Raphael Washington told The News.

DRMM and Sheriff's Office staff stood bundled in jackets from noon to 2 p.m., handing out specialized baskets for boys and girls of different ages. Also present were specialized sheriff's office officials on horseback, a crowd favorite among kids and their families who came by.

Less than an hour into the event, Washington estimated nearly 100 people had already approached the drive-through giveaway.

"It's just what we do for the community," Washington said. "We're stronger together. I'm just happy to be here to serve the citizens of Wayne County."

With sunshine clearing away most of the recent snowfall, Alex and Crandall Louria said they were glad to bring their 1-year-old daughter to the event.

Louria, whose stepfather works with the Sheriff's Office, spread the news among his own colleagues as a firefighter in Trenton, he said.

"It's fun and exciting," Louria said, adding that the pair's excitement seemed to be rubbing off on their daughter. "She's excited but she's a little small to understand everything so far."

DRMM arranges gift basket giveaways around the holidays each year to try to bring cheer to families and their kids of all incomes in Metro Detroit, DRMM President and CO Chad Audi said.

A 115-year-old institution, DRMM serves thousands of homeless people and provides thousands of meals each day across 21 locations across Michigan, Audi said.

With 1,000 baskets to distribute in Trenton, DRMM staff were excited to give back to the community, snow or shine, Audi said.

"I have kids, I know they enjoy the holidays and they enjoy the gifts," he said. "I want to make sure that poor kids also enjoy the same and have the same feeling like everybody else.”

Seeing an Easter Bunny while driving by made all the difference to some of the Teichmiller family's Saturday afternoon, Ryann Teichmiller said.

Teichmiller, of Trenton, heard about the giveaway from a neighbor and brought two of her children along to meet the people and horses spreading cheer, she said.

"There are some parents that can't do this for their kids and hit on hard times," she said. "It's awesome, bringing the community together and doing things like this, especially after COVID. A lot of people didn't get to do things like this."

Teichmiller's 11-year-old son, Oliver, had just one word to share his feelings about the giveaway.

"Thankful," he said.