17 volunteers busily sorted through roses, carnations, lilies and other flowers Tuesday morning, discarding wilted plants, trimming stems, and arranging flowers into bouquets destined for hospice patients.
With the help of florists and grocery stores that donate unused flowers, The Bloom Project in Oregon works with 20 hospices to brighten the surroundings for people nearing the end of their life, and gives them something pleasant to talk about.
“Berkman, a former meeting and event planner, founded the nonprofit in Bend in 2007, after she noticed perfectly good flowers being thrown away after events,” The Oregonian reports. “She heard about restaurants giving away leftovers to food banks, and thought she could apply the idea to flowers.”
The nonprofit has gifted more than 78,000 bouquets to Hospice patients since 2009.
(READ the full story from The Oregonian or Watch their video below)
Photo via The Bloom Project FB Page / Story tip from Mike McGinley
What a beautiful idea!
I hope this story will encourage people outside of Oregon to start their own Bloom Project. Many people would probably love “volunteering” to arrange flowers for hospice patients. 🙂