Dawn Castro
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA —
For the second year in a row, a Valdosta florist delivered smiles to nursing home residents.
The 90 residents of Heritage Healthcare Holly Hill Nursing Home were surprised Wednesday to see employees from The Flower Gallery walking in with bouquets of bright yellow roses and daisies. The bouquets were arranged inside of a bright yellow “Be Happy” smiling face mug.
Resident Sylvia Wiseman’s face resembled the mug. She said she was both happy and surprised to receive the gift.
“I love flowers,” Wiseman said. “I’m going to put them in my room and show them off. I didn’t even know they were bringing them.”
Another resident, Yvonne Williams, said receiving the flowers made her feel good.
“People bring me stuff sometimes,” Williams said. “Every other Wednesday, we get flowers, but I’m happy to get these, too. They’re very nice.”
The notion was the same among all the residents, both male and female. Regardless of how some men feel when it comes to receiving flowers, resident Artha Williams said the flowers made him “feel good.”
He also said he had no intentions of giving them to anyone.
“I’m going to keep them for myself,” he said.
The “Make Someone Smile” week is a national campaign, part of an annual community outreach program.
Susan Mullis, owner of The Flower Gallery, said she is a state board member of Teleflora, the world’s leading flower delivery service connecting customers with the nation’s best local florists for over 75 years. Although the campaign has been going on since 2000, Mullis said her store has been participating for two years now, and she plans to bring smiles to all the area nursing home facilities.
“Last year, we delivered to Heritage House on North Ashley Street,” she said. “This year, we’re doing Holly Hill and Baptist Village in Lake Park.”
Baptist Village has 31 residents.
Mullis said that even though it took some time getting everything together, she was happy to put smiles on the people’s faces.
“When you make someone else feel good, you feel good.”
Teleflora donated 50,000 of its keepsake Be Happy mugs for the project. The florists in turn work with local wholesalers and growers to secure flower donations.
With these donations, Teleflora florists create floral gifts in the mugs and deliver them to hospitals, charities and other organizations, according to reports.
