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Dozens of Tri-City families find vegan Easter eggs in first-of-its-kind event

A B.C. business reached out to the region with the idea of a vegan-inclusive hunt — and calls the result a success.

Did you know the Easter Bunny has a vegan cousin?

They made a special visit last weekend for Tri-City families who practice the lifestyle by way of a B.C. business that brainstormed the idea to host a first-of-its-kind Easter egg hunt.

More than 50 children and adults from across the region — including Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody — hunted for nearly 650 treated-filled eggs in Whonnock Lake in Maple Ridge.

The chocolate prizes were made by Little Vegan Treats, which operates out of Mission and is said to specialize in creating vegan and other "free-from" options.

Owner Lori Blaszkowski is happy that many families who normally can't participate in conventional Easter egg hunts were able to feel welcome.

"Everything that went in to organizing the event was absolutely worth it, to see the community of vegan families together, and most importantly for the children to be able to connect with each other and be free to bliss out on all the treats they stuffed in their baskets," she said in a statement to the Tri-City News.

"The feedback from the parents after the event, expressing their children’s joy, underlined the whole reason for the event, and we already can’t wait for next year!"  

Blaszkowski says, before this past long weekend, she had never seen a public vegan Easter event advertised anywhere.

She hopes the event can be a new normal each year for vegan families "where they could feel free to eat every treat they found without any extra fuss," and believes the lifestyle is on the rise in region — especially involving families with young kids.

Blaszkowski is a vegan herself of nearly 25 years and has raised two children during that time.