It'll be a happier Easter for 1,500 families in need

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- They're not quite the Easter bunny, but hundreds of volunteers gathered to fill baskets with food for families in need.

If it wasn't for this extra help, Baby Ruth Joiner wouldn't have been able to serve an Easter meal to her family.

"You can`t even express how you feel, it`s such a wonderful thing," said Joiner.

This is the 7th annual Easter Baskets for the Hungry program put on by Palermo's Pizza and the Hunger Task Force.

"There's everything in here for a family of 4 to feed them from their Easter meal on Sunday all the way through the week. So you can see we`ve got turkeys, we`ve got ham, we`ve got Palermo`s Pizza," said Palermo's Pizza Chief Creative Officer Laurie Fallucca.

The 1,500 families already selected to receive the baskets were notified by getting a golden ticket sent to their home.

"They were chosen by various pantry coordinators and housing program coordinators who knew that these people were really desperate and really in need of help so we`re targeting the neediest of the needy," said Hunger Task Force Executive Director Sherrie Tussler.

"You see a smile on their face and you see that they feel this value that everybody is important, everybody deserves a good meal for Easter," said Fallucca.

To celebrate Palermo's 50th anniversary, 50 people picking up their baskets were given a golden egg with $50 inside and Joiner was one of them.

"Oh God bless you. That`s a special Easter blessing. Oh thank you so much. You all have a blessed day and I love you," said Joiner.

Making it a very happy Easter for those who need it most.

Since 2008, Palermo's has donated more than 285,000 pounds of food, providing meals to 7,500 families in the community.