Tag: nonprofit

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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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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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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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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


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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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Midsummer comes early for RAF Chicago through Joffrey Ballet Partnership

Photo Apr 24, 10 28 26 AM.jpgJust 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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‘Voice’ Winner Makes Special Flower Delivery to Cancer Patient (Inside Edition, 10.19.17)

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Chris Blue, Winner of The Voice Helps Random Acts of Flowers Celebrate a Quarter Million Deliveries of Hope and Healing

Winner of THE VOICE Helps Celebrate
a Quarter Million Deliveries of Hope and Healing

Rising Pop Vocalist Chris Blue to Make Milestone Delivery
to Cancer Patients at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital

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It is such a simple idea, and yet it has had such a meaningful impact on a quarter million people across the country who are battling injury, illness and the aging process.

Today marks the 250,000th delivery by Random Acts of Flowers, the national nonprofit that improves the emotional health and wellbeing of individuals in healthcare facilities by delivering recycled flowers, encouragement and personal moments of kindness. The special moment is set to take place at Chicago’s Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, with rising pop star and winner of The Voice, Chris Blue, Joining volunteers in delivering the healing bouquets to oncology patients in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“I never imagined how far reaching this would be when we started Random Acts of Flowers,” said founder and CEO Larsen Jay, who was moved to give back after suffering a near-fatal accident and personally experiencing the healing power of flowers during his recovery. (See the RAF story.) “We owe so much to the thousands of volunteers, the community leaders, our partners and our donors who share our vision to nurture a culture of care and compassion.”

Blue is one of those who shares the vision of Random Acts of Flowers, so much so that he is breaking away from working on his first album in New York with mentor Alicia Keys to make the 250,000th delivery.

“It fits with what I want to do with my music and who I want to be in life,” said Blue, who wowed The Voice judges and viewers alike with his incredible voice range and musical versatility. “I want to inspire people, to be the light and glue to bring people together. That’s what Random Acts of Flowers does every day, offering hope and light to those who are suffering and lonely.”

Numerous studies have shown flowers have a positive impact on patient recovery, with those who have flowers or plants in their rooms experiencing shorter hospital stays and reporting less pain, anxiety, and fatigue. Additionally, flowers have been proven to be a positive emotion-inducer, improving mood and long-term episodic memory in elderly patients.

Random Acts of Flowers was launched in 2008 in Jay’s hometown of Knoxville, Tenn. Its mission quickly spread across the country with additional branches opening in Tampa Bay, Chicago, Silicon Valley and Indianapolis, where a small team and thousands of dedicated volunteers work every day to remind some of the most vulnerable members of their communities that they are loved and cared for.

Nationally, Random Acts of Flowers serves more than 650 healthcare facilities, including hospitals, hospices, dialysis centers, chemotherapy infusion centers, senior living facilities, nursing homes and adult day cares. Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, the premier academic referred hospital for northwest Chicago and north Chicagoland, is one of RAF Chicago’s newest healthcare partners. The 638-bed research hospital offers the most advanced care in its Level I trauma center, Cardiovascular, Orthopedic, Advanced Surgery, Oncology and Neuroscience Centers of Excellence.

SEE COVERAGE ON

Image result for wbir logo

 

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3 Nonprofit Founders Who Are Inspiring Entrepreneurs (Entrepreneur.com, 9.29.17)

Photo by Nadine Priestley Photography.

3 Nonprofit Founders Who Are Inspiring Entrepreneurs

(Entrepreneur.com, 9.29.17)

by Brian Hughes

Who’s your business idol? In entrepreneurship circles, it’s natural to look up to figures like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Richard Branson, three innovators who continually inspire people to dream bigger.

While there’s no denying these three leaders are certainly role models, others may receive less media attention but are inspiring nonetheless. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that some of the most inspiring aren’t in the corporate world at all: They’re leading successful nonprofits.

They’re just like us.

Nonprofit leaders have a natural entrepreneurial mindset. They have to, because like startup founders, nonprofit leaders aim to solve a problem by providing goods or services.

In the process, they use creative problem-solving and marketing to raise public awareness and financial support for their vision, just the way entrepreneurs strive to secure financing and build public excitement for their product launches. Many nonprofit leaders also supervise a passionate, paid staff while recruiting and training a robust volunteer force. Moreover, these leaders must be creative, open-minded, flexible and nimble —  just like, you guessed it, entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship lesson: Opportunity is everywhere — you just need to think outside the box. In founding Random Acts of Flowers, Jay turned “lemons into lemonade” by finding a creative way to repurpose floral arrangements, bringing joy and vital emotional support to patients when they need it most.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

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Random Acts of Flowers Turns Leftover Stems into Smiles (Palo Alto Pulse, 9.26.2017)

Random Acts of Flowers Turns Leftover Stems
into Smiles

(Palo Alto Pulse, 9.26.2017)

Ever visited a friend in the hospital to help lift their spirits and wondered, “But who is there to comfort the people with no friends or family nearby?” That’s where Random Acts of Flowers (RAF) comes in.

Random Acts of Flowers: simple mission, huge impact

RAF is a nonprofit organization with a mission to, “improve the emotional health and well-being of individuals in health care facilities by delivering recycled flowers, encouragement and personal moments of kindness.” Although their mission is simple, the impact of RAF is enormous.

The Silicon Valley branch has delivered almost 25,000 arrangements to nearby hospitals and care facilities, including many in Palo Alto, such as the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Channing House, Stanford Hospital, Sunrise Assisted Living and Lytton Gardens.

Recycling flowers from local partners including Trader Joe’s

And what’s really cool is that all of RAF’s arrangements are made from leftover flowers that would otherwise be composted, or in many cases, just thrown out.

Local partners for flower donations include Trader Joe’s at Town and Country and Michaela’s Florist. The RAF team also makes a big run to the San Francisco Flower Market every week to fill up on unused blooms that vendors are happy to give away.

Patients and caregivers love the blooms and smiles

And while RAF’s blooms are lovely, patients and hospital caregivers appreciate the smiles and words of encouragement that go along with each delivery even more. Often volunteers stop and visit patients for a few moments to offer additional support as they bring the arrangements to each room.

“Anything that supports and shows our gratitude to veterans keeps me motivated to stay involved, ” said Penny Philips, Chaplain of the Palo Alto Veteran’s Administration Hospital Hospice. “They are always deeply touched receiving flowers as a random act of kindness. Many are actually speechless as they accept the flower gift with a big smile.”

Read Full Article HERE…