OMES Easter Egg Drive brings joy to Children’s Hospital
By Macy Nunemaker
In addition to serving those who serve Oklahomans, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) is brightening lives in the Oklahoma City community. For the last 17 years, the annual OMES Easter Egg Drive has brought springtime cheer to Oklahoma Children’s Hospital, and this year was no exception.
Beginning in February, OMES asked employees to donate Easter eggs filled with toys, candy or other goodies. Over the next month, OMES collected an astounding 8,000 prefilled eggs to distribute to the patients and nurses of Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. Lisa Whiteman, state asset manager for the Finance Center of Excellence, partners with Cavett Kids Foundation to organize the annual event and distribute the eggs.
“This year was a record!” Whiteman said. “OMES really stepped up and collected the most eggs ever this year. I have worked for OMES for 13 years, and every year we collect more and more eggs.”
A small group representing OMES along with two state troopers visited Oklahoma Children’s Hospital the week before Easter. They were equipped with baskets overflowing with multicolored eggs and candy. Over the course of three hours, the team hopped through the halls and clinics of the hospital, spreading Easter eggs and festivity to patients and their families.
“It was so rewarding to see all the sweet smiles of the kids, parents and nurses when we filled their hands and hoodies with Easter eggs,” Whiteman said. “We walked all 10 floors of the hospital and left bags of eggs with candy, toys and stickers at all the clinics to be handed out to everyone that has an appointment during the week.”
Alongside OMES, the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Law Enforcement Commission and St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Enid contributed to the large collection of donated Easter eggs. The eggs were also shared with the dedicated nurses and staff of the Children’s Hospital.
“This year we had so many eggs that we also made some Easter baskets for the nurses that are in the hospital taking care of the kiddos,” Whiteman said. “Since we collected over 8,000 eggs, I thought we should do something for the nurses, so I filled 35 baskets for the nurses’ stations.”
The kindness and generosity of OMES employees brought countless smiles to the faces of Oklahoma children battling chronic or life-threatening illnesses.
“You can’t help but smile when you see us rolling by with carts full of Easter eggs,” Whiteman said. “This is an event that has been going on for 17 years, and we couldn’t have done it without all the amazing people who helped fill the eggs.”
