The Easter Bunny was spotted hopping through Gravesend on April 12, visiting the neighborhood’s pint-sized residents who were stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I had this idea a couple of days ago to do it,” said Mary Ann DeLuca, a do-gooder who helped make the bunny’s house trip possible. “We’ve got to do something for the kids.”
DeLuca and Joe Paolillo Jr, who both typically attend Our Lady of Grace Church in Gravesend, were motivated to spread some Easter cheer, despite the social distancing guidelines that halted public gatherings — including most religious services.
“I will do anything for my church,” Paolillo said. “To do something nice like this to try to put a smile on people’s faces is really the least we can do at this time.”
The pair — with DeLuca dressed as Easter’s furriest candy distributor — drove through southern Brooklyn streets, blaring a horn as neighborhood children waved through their windows, or greeted the bunny from their front yards.
This isn’t the first time Paolillo, who owns both A&S Fine Foods and Bake City Bagels in Gravesend, has given back to his community amid the outbreak. During the pandemic, his business has been busy providing hundreds of meals to first responders, as well as teaming up with the New York Mets to provide meals to frontline workers at city hospitals.
“We have been working really hard — my family and my crew — to feed everybody and to take care of the neighborhood,” he said.
