Scavenger hunt helps children’s hospital

Outdoor event includes clues, riddles and photo challenges

HARTFORD — Families looking for a fun activity to get them out of the house can participate in a scavenger hunt in downtown Hartford through April 24, sponsored by the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Registrants can download the app Let’s Roam to access the hospital’s “Quest for the Kids Scavenger Hunt” and instructions on where to start.

“About 15 to 20 challenges come up through the hunt, along a 1.5-mile walking path. There are clues, riddles, photo challenges, historic locations, 10 major landmarks in downtown Hartford. It usually takes about two hours to compete,” Pategas said. “It’s all downtown. Everything is outdoors, accessible any time of the day or night.”

“Quest for the Kids Scavenger Hunt” is a fundraiser for the hospital’s Greatest Need Children’s Fund, which finances a variety of initiatives at the hospital.

“The fund helps us recruit and retain our care providers. It allows us to provide care for the children and the families that cannot pay,” said Diana Pategas, the hospital’s vice president for stewardship and donor relations. “It can provide other things. Coming into emergency can be scary and traumatic. We give children toys to help take down their anxiety, to help them settle down and be more comfortable.”

Participants register at bidpal.net/ questforthekids.

Cost ranges from $15 for an individual, $25 for a couple, $50 for a group of three to five and $125 for a group of six to 10. The cost is not tax-deductible, Pategas said.

“So many events during the year that are maybe indoors or in large groups of people gathering together, we were unable to have in the same way,” she said. “This is creative, family friendly, COVID-safe and outdoors.”

Pategas said the hunt will give families a close-up view of the city. “Actually walking around city, you see plaques, statues, things that normally when you’re in your car driving to your destination, you never notice,” she said.

The Let’s Roam app also has scavenger hunts on the Yale campus and in Bridgeport.