The Easter Basket Lady

Lee Hardy assembling Easter baskets.

It's been for nine years that Lee Hardy has been making Easter baskets, nine years that she has gone all out for a holiday that she feels doesn't always get the recognition it deserves. As Ms. Hardy says, "Nobody goes all out for Easter. I felt like it was my chore."

Around Palmetto, Florida, where she lives, Lee is known as the Easter basket lady and every Easter, the local dollar stores brace for her arrival, as she empties their shelves of Easter delights, the makings for hundreds of Easter baskets.



The Easter baskets don't just get filled with candy, either. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office donates toy cars and stickers. There are coloring books, crayons, story books, and even brand new toothbrushes that get added to the baskets. Then there's the usual grass and cellophane, with a ribbon to top it off. You'd think you'd stopped into the Easter bunny's den assembly line, there are so many baskets being put together. Oh, and the final piece, the love that makes her baskets so special.

Lee makes about 700 baskets in all, with plans to top that number with 1,000 baskets for a future Easter. What is this basket factory all about? What makes it tick? Ms. Hardy explains, "I'm giving back. You just have to put all that love in it. That's love."

Once all of the baskets have been made, the children are invited into her home to pick out a basket; one at a time they enter. The kids are from families that could not otherwise afford to provide them with baskets due to hardship during the year. And every kid who picks a basket leaves with a big smile. That's what it's all about for Lee Hardy. As she says, "I just think of joy and love." The people and children of Palmetto are especially grateful for one woman named Lee Hardy and for her heart full of love.

A few children stopped by for their Easter baskets.

Thanks to this article from Good News Network: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/easter-bunny-has-nothing-over-lee-hardy/; and this article from 10News: http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2015/03/20/woman-makes-hundreds-of-easter-baskets-to-give-away/25101089/.

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