Category: Knoxville Patron Society

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Getting to Know Larsen Jay (Knoxville Focus, 3.31.19)

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Getting to Know Larsen Jay

by Mike Steely

In this week’s Getting to Know feature, The Knoxville Focus chatted with someone who positively impacts other people, people he may never meet, and what he does comes as a welcomed surprise and sometimes brings tears of gratitude.

Larsen Jay is a husband, father, Knox County Commissioner and founder of Random Act of Flowers. Most people don’t know that Jay also has a background in TV and movie production.


How has your position as founder and CEO of Random Acts of Flowers worked for you?

It has been thrilling, half terrifying and always exciting as we continue to help the community. My wife and I were involved in many things before this, like bringing the ice rink back downtown, starting the East Tennessee Chili Cook Off and the Daddy-Daughter Dance, restoring a historic building and serving on nonprofit boards. We started Random Acts of Flowers as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and thought we’d hand it off after it got started. It accepts no public funds, everything is donated and nothing is wasted. We exist through grants, corporate support, and private, direct fund raising.

We now have four branches around the country, 18 employees and over 2,000 volunteers and are approaching our 500,000th floral delivery. It’s going very well.[/fusion_text][button link=”http://knoxfocus.com/archives/this-weeks-focus/getting-know-larsen-jay/” color=”default” size=”xlarge” stretch=”” type=”” shape=”” target=”_blank” title=”” gradient_colors=”|” gradient_hover_colors=”|” accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” bevel_color=”” border_width=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” modal=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”1″ animation_offset=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=””]Read the Full Story Here[/button]

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Blog Chicago Patron Society Knoxville Patron Society RAF in the News

RAF on Flower Power with Jill (March 2019)

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Random Acts of Flowers Has Recycled
Over 400,000 Bouquets for Patients & Nursing Homes

In 2007, Random Acts of Flowers founder Larsen Jay was in a near-fatal accident landing him in a Tennessee hospital bed.  Aside from expert medical care, he also credits the bouquets of flowers generously sent by friends and family in helping him heal and persevere through the multiple surgeries and challenging recovery process.

Leaving the hospital, he noticed how some patients didn’t have cheery flowers to give them an emotional lift as he had. The first Random Acts of Flowers donation was made that day when he re-purposed his bouquets and delivered them from his wheelchair.[/fusion_text][button link=”http://www.flowerpowerwithjill.com/random-acts-of-flowers-has-recycled-over-400000-cheery-bouquets/” color=”default” size=”xlarge” stretch=”” type=”” shape=”” target=”_self” title=”” gradient_colors=”|” gradient_hover_colors=”|” accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” bevel_color=”” border_width=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” modal=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”1″ animation_offset=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=””]Read Full Coverage Here[/button]

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Blog Chicago Patron Society Knoxville Patron Society

A Look Back at Delivering Hope in 2018!

As we kick off delivering hope in 2019, we wanted to reflect on some of the highlights of 2018.

Here’s just a small sampling of the milestones and moments that defined our last year here
at Random Acts of Flowers!

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Every Vase has a Place: RAF Knoxville and Knox Area Rescue Ministries

Every Vase has a Place:
RAF Knoxville and Knox Area Rescue Ministries

Every vase has a story. Perhaps, it starts at a florist shop or a gift store or even some warehouse online; but, ideally, that vase finds itself full of flowers and in the home of a grateful recipient. But, after the bouquet’s life ends, what happens to the vase that held them? Maybe it gets stashed under the kitchen sink or in the garage or forgotten in that weird cabinet space above the refrigerator.

At RAF Knoxville, we receive more than 2,000 vases a month from individuals who know that those objects’ stories aren’t finished yet, that they have more to give.

The majority of the vases we receive are re-purposed as part of our mission of delivering hope – refilled with flowers and taken to hospitals and assisted living facilities throughout East Tennessee.

However, some can’t be used for this purpose (usually due to height) and so their journey takes them just a little bit further – to the Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) stores.

KARM’s Evan Crass describes the symbiosis between our two organizations as unique because “RAF turns something that would otherwise be garbage in a landfill into a gift, and – if they can’t use something they receive, they pay it forward to another organization. For us, it’s vases, and – at our stores – those vases get sold to support our mission of providing meals.”

At KARM stores, every $2 spent becomes a meal for an individual facing housing and food scarcity issues in our community. Each month, RAF donates approximately 300 vases to KARM stores, which become dozens of meals for the people that they serve.

And, who knows, one of those vases may start its story all over again once it leave KARM. It could be given – full of flowers – to someone who will donate it back to RAF, and we will donate it to KARM and back again – providing joy, hope, and sustenance to our friends and neighbors.

If you are interested in donating vases at any of our branches, please visit https://randomactsofflowers.org/donate-vases.

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Blog Chicago Patron Society Knoxville Patron Society Newsroom

Random Acts of Flowers Turns 10 years old (WATE, 7.24.2018)

“A Knoxville-based nonprofit has been bringing smiles to hundreds of thousands of people’s faces for 10 years now, and it all started with one bouquet of flowers. Random Acts of Flowers celebrated its 10th birthday Tuesday.

Fran Scheidt has been constructing the floral creations since the very beginning. ‘It was about a third the size of this,’ she said describing their warehouse.

In 10 years Random Acts of Flowers has expanded to Tampa Bay, Chicago and Indianapolis, and they have handed out 340,000 bouquets made from donated flowers, in hospitals, assisted living facilites and hospice care. About 90,000 of those have been in Knoxville where it all began.

‘I like to be around people, but I like what we’re doing,’ Scheidt said.

It has been 10 years of brightening days with beautiful blossoms.”

 

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Blog Chicago Patron Society Knoxville Patron Society Newsroom

Random Acts of Flowers Celebrates 10 Years of Delivering Hope and Encouragement

A decade ago, Random Acts of Flowers (RAF) made its first official delivery. With a strong vision and a simple mission, co-founders Larsen and Adrian Jay started what has become a nationwide phenomenon. Over the past ten years, Random Acts of Flowers has delivered more than 340,000 bouquets of recycled flowers to individuals in hospitals, assisted living facilities, and hospice, and the organization has repurposed more than 356,000 vases, all thanks to the more than 161,000 hours put in by dedicated volunteers. Currently, the RAF mission serves four communities in the US – Knoxville, Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Indianapolis – and has inspired more than two dozen smaller organizations in communities from coast to coast, as well as in the UK.
 
From Sunday, July 22nd through Tuesday, July 24th, Random Acts of Flowers employees from all four branches and the national headquarters will converge on Knoxville for a company retreat focused on making the next ten years of delivering hope even more successful than the last ten have been.
 
Knox County mayor Tim Burchett has proclaimed Tuesday July 24th to be Random Acts of Flowers Day.
 
And, that evening, RAF staff will be joined by board members, donors, volunteers, supporters, and community members for the 10thBirthday Happy Hour party at Clancy’s Tavern in downtown Knoxville.
 
And, for the past month, supporters have been part of the Random Acts of Flowers 10th Anniversary Challenge, participating in a friendly challenge to collectively raise $10,000 in honor of 10 years of delivering hope. The person who raises the most during this one month challenge will receive one bouquet of flowers a month (sent to the person of their choice) for a whole year – compliments of RAF’s friends at The Flower Pot in Knoxville. Further, a generous donor has agreed to match the donations made through the challenge.
 
As challenge participant Tiffany Gardner says, “In our busy lives, it’s easy to forget that there are people in communities everywhere who are experiencing health hardships. In hospitals, hospice, and assisted living facilities, people are in need of a reminder that they haven’t been forgotten and that there are people who care about their well-being. RAF does that every day.”
 
Random Acts of Flowers looks to make more than 110,000 deliveries in 2018 and crest 500,000 deliveries by the end of 2019.
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Blog Knoxville Patron Society Newsroom

Happiness Week (WBIR, 7.12.18)

For Happiness Week, WBIR’s  Rebecca Sweet and Leslie Ackerson visited the RAF Knoxville workshop to learn the ways you can deliver some summer sunshine to folks who need it.

SEE THEIR COVERAGE HERE –

 

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Blog Knoxville Patron Society Newsroom

“He grows them, cuts them, then gives them away” (WBIR, 7.2.2018)

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!

 

Also, check out our full interview with John from last year on our Blog!

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Chicago Patron Society Knoxville Patron Society Newsroom

Random Acts of Flowers Honors The Brightest Week, June 17-23

[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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Knoxville Patron Society Newsroom

Founder and CEO Larsen Jay at University of Tennessee’s TEDx

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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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