Teen Dons Easter Bunny Suit To Cheer Up Kids In Pandemic

CRESTWOOD, IL — A Crestwood eighth-grader put on a bunny costume and drove around for six hours cheering up children whose Easter egg hunts got canceled by coronavirus.

“I thought it would be nice because kids weren’t able to go see the Easter Bunny,” Sarah Kreamalmeyer, 14, said. “I wanted to make children happy.”

Sarah practiced social distancing as her dad drove her around Crestwood in the back of a borrowed Village of Crestwood EMA pickup truck on Easter Sunday so kids could take pictures from a distance. Her mom, Merry, was the bunny handler, telling Sarah which way to turn her big bunny head.

“Seeing the kids jump up and down and adults excited made Sarah happy,” Merry said.

Merry said her daughter is shy, but putting on the bunny costume made all her inhibitions melt away.

“Nobody knew who I was,” Sarah said.

Sarah bought the bunny costume to wear at a fundraiser for her travel softball team, Windy City Ice. Like everything else, the fundraiser was canceled when the pandemic came to Illinois.

“We already had the bunny suit,” Sarah said, “so I decided to make use of it.”

After making the rounds, Sarah joined her three kid brothers for a home-cooked Easter dinner prepared by her mom. It was strange not going to families house and seeing all relatives but this Easter will be one for the memory books.