Nine-year-old mesa girl wins Bashas’ egg carton contest

McKenna Gillespie
McKenna Gillespie

MESA – There are dozens of ways to repurpose egg cartons, but one stood out for creativity and use to the team of judges evaluating entries submitted to Bashas’ Supermarkets’ Egg-cellent Carton Creation Contest.

A dozen days into National Egg Month in May, Mckenna Gillespie’s windchime, aptly titled “Rainbow Sunshine,” was named the best creative submission from across the state.

“I chose a windchime because it makes fun noises, looks pretty and is colorful,” said Gillespie, a Mesa resident. “I used two egg cartons, stickers, string, bells, beads and paint.”

The Egg-cellent Carton Creation Contest, which celebrates the introduction of the grocer’s cage-free eggs in new Earth-friendly egg cartons, was launched to encourage egg lovers ages 3 to 10 to unleash their boundless imaginations by transforming Bashas’ cage-free egg cartons into eclectic pieces of art or cool inventions.

In addition to being named Bashas’ Carton Creation Eggs-pert, Gillespie has won a gift basket containing a dozen kid-friendly products, including a family four-pack to Wet ‘n’ Wild waterpark, along with a $150 Bashas’ gift card. Noticed for creativity and effort, her creation is available for viewing on Bashas’ social media channels.

To help get kids’ creative juices flowing, Bashas’ partnered with Box Play for Kids, a local, award-winning and eco-friendly company focused on turning boxes and cartons into fun, simple toys that stimulate curiosity, enthusiasm and learning. To provide some creative inspiration and spark kids’ imaginations, Box Play shared more than a half-dozen carton-transforming ideas, which are available on its blog and Bashas’ social media channels.

Bashas’ became the first mainstream grocer in Arizona to transition its private label eggs to a cage-free option. Working with local egg producer Hickman’s Family Farms, the cage-free egg transition also included a packaging overhaul. The responsibly-sourced cage-free eggs are also affordable, and tend to run at a considerably lower price than many other cage-free egg options at other specialty grocers or local farmers markets.