On Tuesday, March 30, five students from the Recreation and Leisure Department of Mount Olive College will be co-sponsoring an event with the Sampson County Civitans Club of Clinton.

The Sampson County Civitans Easter party is for children with special needs. These children are PK-5th graders and attend the Sampson County Schools of Hargrove, C.E. Perry, Midway Elementary, Union Elementary, Salemburg Elementary, Clement Elementary, Hobbton Elementary, Plain View Elementary and Union Intermediate, as well as Clinton City Schools’ L.C. Kerr and Butler Avenue.

Letters and permission forms have been sent to the school, inviting the children, teachers and parent volunteers to participate in the Sampson County Civitans Easter party. Their events for the day will being at 10 a.m. at EastPark Cinema in Clinton. Here the children will be watching the new Disney movie, “The Princess and The Frog.” After the movie, they will then go to Royal Lane Park for lunch, which is being provided by the Sampson County School Food Services. Following lunch, the children will be given Easter baskets and the hunt for Easter eggs will begin. The students from Mount Olive College and the Sampson County Civitans Club are expecting 165 children along with 45 adult volunteers.

The Sampson County Civitans Club has been hosting this special day for the children with mental and physical disabilities for over 20 years. The purpose of the Citivans group is to sponsor, raise money, and provide opportunities for children and adults that have special needs. They host numerous events for all age groups throughout the year, including a Valentine’s dance, Easter party, weekend trip to Myrtle Beach, kids’ Christmas party, and an adult Christmas dance. Most of the funding for these events come fromfall and spring BBQ and Chicken Plate Sales.

The club works hard all year around to do wonderful programs for their community, Civitans said.

“We do it for the kids, seeing them have a good time is the most important thing.

“Our purpose is to make sure the children enjoy the day and feel good about themselves,” said Donnie Tart, president of the Civitans Club.

This year the Civitans Club partnered with a committee of five students from the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department at Mount Olive College. They include: Amanda Bartlett, chair; Rachael Brown, secretary/treasurer; Sheldon Johnson, facilities operator; Ashley Edwards, marketing director; and Jasmine Whitby, personnel director.

These students have been working on this project for the past two months for their Program Planning class. All five students are very passionate about working with children with special needs, and jumped at the opportunity to help the Civitans Club.

“We are very excited to see the children in all of their excitement,” said Edwards.

“The Citivan members said it is like nothing you have ever seen before, and very heartwarming.”

The students have gotten their college involved by selling raffle tickets to raise money for the event, and asked their fellow classmates to volunteer to stuff the 2,000 eggs that will be part of this special event.