On an island off the coast of an island, a local grocer’s big error turned into a successful national charity event.
Dan Dafydd wanted 80 chocolate Easter eggs for the shelves at Sinclair General Stores on Sanday, one of the Orkney Islands, but accidentally ordered 80 cases of Easter eggs, totaling 720 confectionaries for a total island population of 500.
Wondering what he was going to do with the excess, his heart overtook his mind, and decided to raffle off groups of 100, with proceeds going to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, (RNLI) the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the British Isles which rescue dozens of people and vessels every year.
It proved to be a huge hit on Sanday, with £3,000 being raised to win batches of 100 eggs. It was so popular that in the ultimate irony, Dafydd had to order more chocolate eggs.
“We actually took a delivery of eggs yesterday because we ran out. We needed to buy more in the end. People have wanted them signed and all sorts,” said Mr. Dafydd to the Guardian.
“Once word spread a bit and I was invited to talk on local radio, I thought ‘it’s not bad enough to be a laughing stock on this island, but to be one all over Orkney.”