The Suffolk Sheriff’s Office suited up once again to bring holiday cheer to the residents at the Autumn Care of Suffolk nursing and rehabilitation center on Friday, just in time for Easter.

Sheriff E.C. Harris and deputies Sandy Toby and Bill Hardy brought about 100 brightly colored stuffed rabbits as part of an outreach program funded by the Easter Bunny Foundation.

“It’s to bring smiles to the residents’ faces and show them that there are folks in the world that really care about them,” Harris said.

The 500 Easter eggs for the outdoor festivities were moved inside because of the rain. Each egg had chocolates, candy and other goodies for residents’ bags as they searched through the halls.

“I love it,” resident Susie Dailey said as she looked for eggs holding her stuffed rabbit.

Rosa White with Christian Home Baptist Church in Windsor donated $20 for this year’s four golden eggs, each with $5 inside them. Prizes were also given out for residents that collected the most eggs.

“They were very excited,” said Tameika Cross, activities director at Autumn Care. “I saw some residents smile that I hadn’t seen smile in a few weeks.”

Members of the “Sassy Sisters” group came by to help hide the eggs and cheer on the residents.

“The residents here are wonderful,” said member Lisa Bilotta.

“It brought out the child in me,” fellow member Romana Neal added.

Deputy Wade Thomas had the honor of putting on the bunny suit to hop, skip and dance for residents and staff alike.

“He’s pretty, and he patted me on the shoulder,” said resident Emily Biernot.

Thomas said he saw himself more as a Roger Rabbit sort of character than Bugs Bunny.

“I’m more happy-go-lucky, but I still like to play jokes,” Thomas said.

He was sweating hard by the time he walked through each of the facility’s 60 rooms to deliver hugs and tap his feet for the residents, but he said it was a “good hot.”

“It’s making them smile and laugh and lifting their spirits,” he said.