Marianne Slaa
Mr. Onderwater had the idea after hearing about other local churches giving out flowers in their neighborhoods. Wanting to do the same, he found a greenhouse that was able to donate the lilies thanks to a donor who covered a portion of the plant costs.Members of the church delivered the lilies to homes while wearing gloves and masks, leaving them on doorsteps along with a small note.
P. Ravensbergen & Sons Ltd., a greenhouse in Ontario’s Niagara Region, usually sees about 80 per cent of its business happen this time of year, but buyers have reduced orders significantly.“It has impacted us hugely,” owner Mr. Ravensbergen said. John Boekestyn, one of the owners of Boekestyn Greenhouses Ltd. near St. Catharines, Ont., says they grow 160,000 Easter lilies each year. They typically ship out the week leading up to Easter, before the flowers grow too old and die.
Hotel Dieu Shaver Hospital in St. Catharines, Ontario received Easter lilies from Boekestyn Greenouses during the coronavirus pandemic on April 7, 2020.“Our business purpose statement as a company is ‘enriching people’s lives with the beauty of flowers,’ and we’re not getting paid for it right now, but we’re still doing that,” Mr. Boekestyn said.
Ms. Crump said that she is providing the service for free, happy that she can both help growers make up some money and bring joy to communities in need of comfort. She has recently seen an uptick of people trying out the program in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
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FYI to cat owners these are highly toxic to cats; had to keep mine on the porch .. scare of my life as I think the cat nibbled at the leaves, can cause kidney failure ... so kind though to surprise people
I got a free one at a Zehrs in Guelph - they were handing them out to shoppers!
I wish I got one. Lillies are my favourite ♥️