By Luke Voogt
Egg-cited kids took off in an early Easter hunt on Wednesday at a Bellbrae chocolaterie as the owners donated $46,500 to a charity protecting children.
“We love it – we get the kids together and dust off the bunny suits,” said owner Leanne Neeland before the kids left the start line.
“We go, ‘eggy, steady, go’ and drop the rope. It’s delightful to see their faces.”
Leanne has donated to the Alannah & Madeline Foundation since 2015 and said the charity suited the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie as a “family destination”.
The foundation began in 1997 following the death of Alannah and Madeline Mikac, aged six and three, along with their mother and 35 people in the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre.
“We thought they were doing amazing work and we’ve been really closely aligned with them,” Leanne said.
“We believe nothing is more important than ensuring our young ones are safe.”
Children of chocolaterie staff and foundation volunteers took off in search of buckets containing prize tokens, or clues leading to them.
“We don’t want the chocolate itself out in the field melting or being eaten by the birds,” Leanne explained.
The hunt was in preparation for the chocolaterie’s annual Easter festivities next month, when its European Chocolatiers prepare more than 20,000 eggs to raise money for the foundation.
“We give out thousands and thousands of eggs,” Leanne said.
Local kids can enter the hunt over the Easter holiday weekend with a gold coin donation to the Alannah & Madeline Foundation.
Originally from Perth, Leanne and husband Ian opened the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie three years ago.
