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Volunteers ensure flowers get 2nd chance to brighten someone’s day (WTHR, 2.20.2020)

“Have you ever wondered where Valentine’s Day flowers go when they aren’t sold? This is it. Random Acts of Flowers is where flowers go to get a second chance.

“These are really good flowers that would normally go into the trash,” said volunteer Amber Livers.

Thanks to 400 volunteers like Amber, they have a second chance to make someone’s day.

Random Acts of Flowers has made 75,000 deliveries since late 2016.

“Whenever volunteers come in, this is the first thing they check. Where are they going? How many do we need and where do the flowers come from? The bottom line is what really matters. We would not exist without our awesome floral partners here in the city,” said Lindsay Potter, program director.

Between 300 and 500 bouquets are shipped out a small building on the near north side every week.”

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Blog Newsletter Newsroom

Indianapolis In Bloom Newsletter – August 2019

 

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IN BLOOM
August 2019
It’s been a busy summer here at our Indianapolis workshop, and – thanks to the support of our volunteers, donors, and friends like you – we’ve made thousands of deliveries to people in our community! We couldn’t do it without you, and we’re so glad that you’re part of the RAF Indianapolis family!
SUPPORT DELIVERING HOPE WITH A DONATION

A NOTE FROM INCOMING BOARD CHAIR, SARAH CLARK

Everyone agrees. RAF Indianapolis is a special place. Each day I enter the workshop on 54th Street, I think RAF could stand for Random Acts of Friendship. Maybe it’s the sweet smell of fresh flowers and the happy chatter combined with the collective sense of purpose. It just feels good. The moment one engages in this mission, the magic begins. Whether it’s knocking on the door of a neighbor to collect a vase or two, or regularly volunteering in the workshop, moments of kindness happen long before the vase of flowers is delivered.

And… Indianapolis gets it! The enthusiasm and dedication of our volunteers, floral suppliers, and healthcare partners is second to none. As we enter our third year, I believe it is a pivotal time for us to fully recommit to both sustaining and growing our mission in the Indianapolis community while having good fun doing it. What an exciting time to be a part of RAF Indy!
AN INDY INVASION!
At the end of July, the Random Acts of Flowers team descended on Indy for a three-day retreat at our workshop! We shared lots of good ideas, plans for the future, successes, challenges, and more than a few laughs! We were glad to be able to host,
and we’re already looking forward to Retreat 2020!
THANK YOU TO TWO AMAZING FLORAL PARTNERS
Flowers are our foot in the door at hospitals, assisted living facilities, and other healthcare centers in our community. They are the way we share kindness and compassion, and remind our neighbors that someone cares about them.

Without amazing floral donors like
JP Parker and McNamara Florist, we wouldn’t be able to provide beautiful blooms to people who need a pick-me-up. We are so grateful for their generosity and continued support of our mission!
GET YOUR VASES
TO OUR PLACE!We are so grateful to everyone who has donated vases to our branch! Vases are the vessel of our mission,
and we are always in need of more!

You can drop off vases at our workshop in Broad Ripple, Monday-Thursday 10:00am to 4:00pm, or at several locations throughout Indianapolis.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DONATING VASES AND VASE DRIVES!
Deliveries of Hope
69,500+ in Indianapolis
447,000+ Nationwide
Vases Re-purposed
69,000+ in Indianapolis
454,000+ Nationwide
Volunteer Hours
22,500+ in Indianapolis
203,500+ Nationwide
SUPPORT DELIVERING HOPE WITH A DONATION
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Blog RAF in the News

A Testimony to Flower Power (Floral Business, Spring 2019)

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Blog Newsletter Newsletters

Indianapolis In Bloom Newsletter – May 2019

 

 


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IN BLOOM
May 2019

The Random Acts of Flowers workshop has been awash in springtime flowers for the last few months, and we have used them to make more than 4,600 deliveries of hope and encouragement in our community since you last heard from us.

We have some exciting opportunities available if you’d like to participate in our mission this summer and we have some great news to report about how we’ve impacted lives. We hope you’ll read on to find out everything we’ve been up to this spring!

SUPPORT DELIVERING HOPE WITH A DONATION

SUPPORTING RAF JUST GOT A LOT MORE SOCIAL!

Celebrate your birthday or any other occasion by supporting our mission of delivering hope!

Did you know you can now run a Facebook crowdfunding campaign for Random Acts of Flowers Indianapolis? It’s an easy, fun, and social way to give back.

Set the amount, spread the word, and share the love!

Vase Drive Alert!

The team at ULGStaffing is hosting a vase drive to benefit Random Acts of Flowers Indianapolis from now until June 30th.

If you have extra vases, you can drop them off at their adorable drop-off location at 5702 E. 71st St.

Thank you to ULG
for supporting our mission!
INTERESTED IN RUNNING A VASE DRIVE? CLICK HERE!

At the end of April, renowned floral designer Jody McLeod joined us at RAF Indianapolis for a workshop and our annual Spring Fundraising Luncheon.

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate and support delivering hope!

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS

EVENT SPONSORS
Syndicate Sales
SalesForce
Messer Construction
The National Bank of Indianapolis
Marvin’s Wholesale Florist
Care Institute Group
BMO Harris Bank
Susan and Bill Tolbert

AUCTION SPONSORS
Pots and Pans Pie Co.
J. McLaughlin
DeBrand Fine Chocolates
Addendum
Be the Boutique
Charles Mayer & Company
Five Thirty Home
Petite G Jewelers
Parkside Linen
Editions Ltd. & Frame Design

NEWS FROM THE WORKSHOP
  • RANDOM ACTS OF PUPPIES – Some of our volunteers are fuzzier than others! Service dog in training and expert floral designer, Mr. BB, spent some time with us in the workshop this spring!
  • ARE YOU GREEN WITH INDY? – Ever wonder what happens to the flowers we don’t use? Those moldy, slimy, sad flowers that we just couldn’t save are composted by local composting service, Green With Indy. And guess what? They offer a residential composting service too!
  • THE NEXT GENERATION OF GIVERS – Young philanthropists from the Stonybrook Middle School Student Council in MSD Warren Township hosted a vase drive and collected hundreds of vases for our delivering hope.
  • MAKE OUR WISHES COME TRUE – OUCH! Our volunteers (and their poor fingers) are desperately in need of thorn stripping tools to rid our beautiful roses of those pesky and painful thorns. Can you help us by purchasing some (and/or any of the other items) from our Amazon Wish List?
  • RACING TO GIVE – It’s May in Indy which can only mean one thing….Indy 500 Victory Banquet Flowers! We want to give a big thank you to Indy Car, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Detail+Design for these gorgeous yellow arrangements from the event!

Deliveries of Hope
62,000+ in Indianapolis
419,000+ Nationwide

Vases Re-purposed
62,250+ in Indianapolis
429,250+ Nationwide

Volunteer Hours
20,250+ in Indianapolis
196,250+ Nationwide

SUPPORT DELIVERING HOPE WITH A DONATION

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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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Categories
Newsroom RAF in the News

Random Acts of Flowers Bring Smiles, Aromas, 50,000th Bouquet (IndyStar, 11/29.2018)

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Random Acts of Flowers Bring Smiles, Aromas, 50,000th Bouquet (IndyStar, 11/29.2018)

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This team of rockstar volunteers created more than 200 arrangements to be delivered to patients at Eskenazi Health —one of which was the 50,000th delivery since our launch in Indy!

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Random Acts of Flowers volunteers deliver their 50,000th bouquet of flowers to Ana Ramos, right, and her new daughter, Keilani Pena Ramos, at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The newest branch of the national floral nonprofit has been delivering the flowers to patients to offer hope, encouragement and smiles, for about two years. Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

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Claire Alexander, from left, Joan Perry, and Kathy Bradfield, with Random Acts of Flowers, get ready to deliver their 50,000th bouquet of flowers at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The newest branch of the national floral nonprofit has been delivering the flowers to patients to offer hope, encouragement and smiles, for about two years. Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

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See the Indy Star’s Full Coverage HERE!

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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 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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The Brightest Week at RAF Tampa Bay (Bobby Lewis, WTSP, 6.19.19)

“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