British aid agency urges donating cash instead of buying Easter eggs

Published: 2006-03-29

LONDON (CNS) -- A British aid organization is urging Catholics to donate money usually spent on Easter chocolate to good causes. The traditional British Easter gifts of large chocolate eggs are made by confectionary manufacturers and are usually hollow with wrapped candy inside. The British give the eggs to each other in the same way Americans make gifts of Easter baskets. The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, an agency of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, has calculated that each year the British spend about 500 million pounds (US$872 million) on 80 million Easter eggs, but said the money could be put to better use. In a March 22 statement, Chris Bain, CAFOD director, said the amount spent on the eggs was more than twice the 200 million pounds (US$348 million) Kenya spent on its health budget last year and two-thirds of the sum Nigeria has proposed to spend on education this year.

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