With Easter Sunday hopping closer and closer, “The Great Online Easter Egg Hunt” is on for children in the valley.

With limitations on large gatherings, event cancellations and closures due to COVID-19, Whitefish Assembly organized its first virtual Easter egg hunt, which ends Sunday.

“There is one golden egg hidden in the building that still hasn’t been found. The first person that finds the golden egg wins a special prize,” Whitefish Assembly Associate Pastor John Weaver said Monday evening. Children who find the golden egg should take a picture and email it to [email protected].

Through a point-and-click virtual building tour at https://whitefishassembly.com/hunt, children can count the number of eggs they find in 13 areas of the church and submit the numbers for a chance at winning prizes. There are also posters with Bible verses in each room. Children may submit the different Bible verse references to earn additional prize points.

“The Great Online Easter Egg Hunt” was organized by the church in an effort to provide families with a fun alternative to celebrate the holiday from home, Weaver said. Initial plans to organize the special Easter egg hunt were kicked into high gear after Gov. Steve Bullock issued a stay-at-home order on March 26. In about 24 hours, a small group of nine volunteers came together to assemble 1,000 eggs that were hidden inside the church, which was then scanned with a special camera to create a 3-D rendering.

By Monday evening, Weaver said there were approximately 4,000 unique visitors to the online Easter egg hunt.

“It’s getting shared all over the world and to other organizations and churches,” Weaver said. “Overall, we’re getting some pretty good interaction and engagement with it.”

Winners will be announced during a live stream at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].