Teen delivering 4,200 chocolate Easter eggs to sick kids in hospitals

By Jacob Freedland via SWNS

Meet the real life Easter bunny - a teenager delivering 4,200 chocolate eggs to sick kids in hospitals.

Jasmine Parker, 14, dropped off 2,000 Easter eggs to poorly children last year but this year more than doubled that amount and says she has no plans to stop.

She started doing so to "put a smile" on the faces of ill children and has delivered eggs every Easter over the last eight years.

Her mom, Maggie Parker, 37, a baker, drives Jasmine around hospitals in the area dropping off the donated eggs on weekends and after school.

This year, Jasmine has been able to reach eight different hospitals and one children's hospice - after local businesses rallied behind her appeal and donated at least £7,000 worth of Easter eggs.

Maggie, from Ballysillin, North Belfast, said: “It’s all she focuses on.

“This is what makes her happy.”

Jasmine even gets recognized when she sets up her donation stall in public as the "Easter bunny".

Earlier this month, people were asking if they could have a photo with her when she was raising money outside a hockey match at the SSE arena.

It all started in January 2016 when Jasmine asked her mom how sick kids in hospital get eggs over the Easter holidays.

Later that day, Jasmine asked her mom to post on Facebook asking for donations after deciding she wanted to deliver the eggs to the local hospital.

Mom-of-one Maggie said: ''Within a few hours we were already getting people knocking at the door with eggs."

A day later, Maggie and her husband, Jay Parker, 36, a health and safety manager, took their daughter to the Children's Royal Victoria Hospital and handed over the eggs to the nurses at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

In her first year, she donated 154 eggs and since then the effort has gotten “bigger and bigger”.

In 2021, Jasmine - who was crowned Junior Miss Galaxy Ireland - managed to collect and deliver 800 eggs.

In 2022, keen to beat her record, the family promoted their endeavors online.

Their efforts paid off and they managed to collect 1,618 Easter eggs – which were delivered to almost every children's hospital in Northern Ireland, missing just two.

But this year’s effort blows previous year’s out the water.

The campaign was boosted by local businesses - who donated chocolate eggs.

One particularly generous donor, the founder of an online raffle ticket website, donated 1,000 eggs.

Everyone from a funeral director to staff at a women-only gym helped out.

Maggie said: “Never did I think back then that this is where it would be now.”

Jasmine said she “never” plans to stop, despite GCSEs being on the horizon.

The Year 10 student said: “It’s not too bad. I’ve got weekends free and time after school.

“School has been supportive. Some of the teachers brought in Easter eggs. I got 104 in total from the school.

“I enjoy it way too much. I enjoy making people smile.”

Maggie said: “We’re going for 6,000 next year and I said 'not a chance'. There’s no room for them all.

“We’ll have to look into a storage unit – they’re getting so big now.”

Jasmine says she'll be going for “a really big sleep” after Easter weekend.

Maggie said: “The Easter bunny will be going into hibernation.”