WBIR’s Emily Stroud paid a visit to one of our dear friends and supporters John Benzinger – a retired flower farmer who now puts his green thumb toward delivering hope!
Author: rafindianapolis
“This week, RAF Tampa Bay is going to 800 [deliveries]. They’re more than doubling their efforts, because the problem is so great. More than 5.7 Americans are living with Alzheimer’s right now. Admittedly, they may not remember that the flowers showed up today, but when they notice them on the bedside table, they’ll remember that they’re loved. 800 arrangements to cheer up 800 patients every first time they see them.” – Bobby Lewis
[imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/imageframe][fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]Many of us will celebrate the longest day of the year – the Summer Solstice on June 21st – by spending time outside with our friends and family, soaking up the sun, and reveling in the fact that we’ve made it another year around the sun while twilight slowly settles around us. But, for many, this longest day has an even greater meaning. The Alzheimer’s Association of America has adopted the summer solstice as their Longest Day and say “The Longest Day is all about love. Love for all those affected by Alzheimer’s disease.”
At Random Acts of Flowers, we’re honoring individuals battling Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other memory-related ailments by celebrating The Brightest Week on June 17-23. With financial support from Eli Lilly and Company, we will make 5,000 deliveries to memory care units at hospital and assisted living facilities in Indianapolis, Knoxville, Chicago, and Tampa Bay during this special week.
“Alzheimer’s has its grasp on more than 5 million people in the United States. But that isn’t just a statistic,” said Phyllis Ferrell, vice president, Lilly global Alzheimer’s disease platform. “It’s my dad. It’s my father-in-law. It’s mothers and fathers. Brothers and sisters. Friends and neighbors. And yes, because Alzheimer’s doesn’t discriminate based on age, it’s sometimes our sons and daughters.”
We encounter recipients facing Alzheimer’s disease at the hospitals and assisted living facilities that we visit on a regular basis. For them – and for us – a bouquet delivery is a welcome bright spot in a world that is turned upside down –[/fusion_text][two_fifth last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][separator style_type=”none” top_margin=”30″ bottom_margin=”” sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=””][imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/imageframe][/two_fifth][three_fifth last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]“My elderly father who suffers from Alzheimer’s was recently admitted to UT Medical Center. He was placed on the oncology wing for lack of space elsewhere. Cancer patients tend to receive lots of flowers and visitors. Once someone has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a disease we can only hope to manage not cure, friends and even family begin to distance themselves. The sweetest lady came in carrying a bright yellow basket full of carnations, hydrangeas, daffodils and sunflowers. My dad was so excited.
He said, “Those flowers brighten up the whole room, don’t they?” It is amazing how something as small as a basket of flowers can mean so much. Many, many thanks.” – Joanie H.[/fusion_text][/three_fifth][fusion_text]
“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the flower arrangements you brought. I am especially grateful for the flowers in our Memory Support rooms. My husband has been there since it opened in 2009, and flowers brightened his room until the last petal fell, brightening the days for him, me, and all the caretakers. What pleasure you have given to all of us, and I want you to know how much I appreciate the surprise.” – Marcia E.
And, research has shown that a familiar smell can bring back memories from the past. A study from Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D at Rutgers University “finds flowers decrease depression, encourage companionship and enrich short-term memories in seniors.”
Sunny Biden from The Pat Summitt Foundation (an organization in Knoxville, TN, fighting Alzheimer’s disease) says “with Alzheimer’s the first thing to go is, short-term memory, so bringing flowers to someone… there’s something nostalgic about a flower that reminds someone of a memory. So, if someone gets a certain flower that they loved, it might bring back a childhood memory that they’re more inclined to remember than a short-term memory.”
Flowers have the ability to brighten a person’s room and their spirits; and, through Eli Lilly and Co.’s generous support, Random Act of Flowers will be able to deliver hope, healing, and personal moments of kindness to 5,000 individuals during The Brightest Week.[/fusion_text][/fullwidth]
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Volunteers Marilyn and Jim Misner got involved about a year ago after hearing about our newest branch on the local news. The couple loves gardening and flowers and the added bonus of paying that love forward to people in local healthcare facilities really drew them to the mission! They love knowing their work touches lives in the community by raising patients’ spirits during a difficult time.
Just before the end of a long, frigid, lake-effect winter, Random Acts of Flowers Chicago had the opportunity to feel the warmth of summer through a very special partnership with the Joffrey Ballet. For opening night of the company’s season opener (and North American premiere) Midsummer Night’s Dream, Random Acts of Flowers took center stage for just a moment to share our mission with the performers and the audience.
RAF Chicago’s Executive Director Andrea Lutz reminisced about the experience. “Sitting in the audience, watching this Midsummer Night’s Dream, I was filled with happiness that we were partnering with such a touchstone of the Chicago community and their audience was connecting with us in a new way.”
Volunteers created beautiful, rustic bouquets for the dancers to congratulate them on a wonderful opening night and to share the power of flowers first-hand. One of the dancers even shared the gift with all of her followers on Instagram.
As part of the partnership, RAF Chicago was also featured in the program (see page 42) for Midsummer Night’s Dream, reaching the thousands of audience members who saw the production.
A volunteer who received tickets to attend the performance wrote to Andrea and Sydney. “My husband and I went to the Joffrey Ballet performance on Thursday night, and Midsummer Night’s Dream was fabulous…The ballet was visually surreal, inventive, and like nothing we’d ever seen. Humor, darkness, weirdness, and beauty from one moment to the next, a masterpiece. I can’t thank you enough for the tickets. We wouldn’t have had the experience otherwise!”
Partnerships like the one with the Joffrey Ballet are important to the Random Acts of Flowers mission because it aligns RAF and the mission of delivering hope to a beloved cultural institution’s mission; it puts Random Acts of Flowers front-and-center to a new audience of supporters through advertising space and social media; it gives us an opportunity to thank volunteers who do so much to keep the day-to-day mission running; and it showcases was RAF is about on a larger scale, positioning us a nonprofit to know in the communities we serve.
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If there’s ever a season punctuated by flora, it’s spring. In-bloom flowers awaken in every garden and at every grocery store. TBH, just simply looking at them functions as therapy, which is something that’s not lost on sisters Christine and Caroline Strzalka, who want to make stems an everyday part of life.
This year, the duo launched their bouquet subscription service, [RAF Supporter] It’s By U, which offers DIY farm-fresh flower-arranging subscription kits that are suitable for even the most amateur of floral stylists. “One of the things we’re trying to do is allow people have flowers in their lives more often,” says Christine. “They’re not just for gifting or special events—they should always be in your home or office.”
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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Our Founder and CEO Larsen Jay recently spoke at TEDx UTK on The Healing Power of Flowers.
He shared his personal experience (which led to the founding of RAF) and testimonials from recipients that truly show the difference that flowers can make in the healing process.
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“The trick to keeping flowers fresh and beautiful is keeping them cool. Proper temperature control is even more important when flowers are recycled. And it can be a major challenge, particularly in the summer, where temperatures in Silicon Valley average in the 80s.
‘Our workshop isn’t well ventilated,’ Fairclough says. ‘There aren’t any windows. During the summer, our flowers were just dying by the day because of the excessive heat that was building up in the workshop.’
To beat the suffocating heat, Fairclough and her team built a mock cold room using an air conditioner and some plastic sheeting. It was better but still didn’t cut it. Thankfully, one of her volunteers happened to be a freelance florist who knew about the CoolBot. So, Fairclough picked up the phone and gave us a call” …
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“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the news of the passing of Cindy McConkey Cox, our Chief Operating & Marketing Officer for Random Acts of Flowers. After a heroic four-year battle with cancer, Cindy died early this morning with her family by her side.
I cannot begin to express how devastated we are as a team. Cindy was a guiding light in our organization since her first day in April 2016. Within our organization she was known as a brilliant communicator, a strategic thinker, and someone who always put others above herself. Thoughtful, warm, and ‘one tough cookie’ is how her closest friends describe Cindy.
We extend our deepest sympathies to her husband Gary and their two children. A woman of deep faith, Cindy cherished her new role of ‘grandmother’ and anyone who spent much time with her was bound to see a picture of her dogs including her new black lab Sable.
Our love for Cindy is hard to put into words. Her loss is profound. We will miss her deeply but we are also grateful our team could share so many meaningful personal and professional milestones with this wonderful woman.”
– Larsen Jay / Founder & CEO, Random Acts of Flowers
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.
It’s what the sunflowers do.” – Helen Keller
Knoxville grower John Benzinger has been cultivating the local soil for more than fifty years. In that time, he ran a tobacco farm and a dairy farm followed by a sunflower nursery. He got into the flower business several years after selling the dairy farm in the mid-1980s. During the interim, John returned to the University of Tennessee to complete his college education. “I finished my degree at age 45. I started in 1957 and ended in 1984” Benzinger laughs as he recounts the dates. Then, he taught horticulture and agriculture at Lenoir City High School, and learned greenhouse gardening alongside his students.
Over time, the cut flowers that John grew found their way into farmers’ markets from here to Atlanta and then he sold sunflowers in Kroger grocery stores. Then, he saw RAF co-founder and CEO Larsen Jay on TV and thought “this is a way I can give flowers to people so they can enjoy them.”
The RAF Knoxville workshop enjoyed the sunny faces of John and his sunflowers all summer long. Bouquets featured the beautiful orange and yellow flowers, and brought sunshine to recipients in assisted living facilities and hospitals from Oak Ridge to Maryville.
And, a piece of John goes with each one of his flowers – the brightness of his smile, the earthiness of his laugh, and his commitment to the people in his community.
