Stopping to smell the flowers reminds us to appreciate the world around us and the goodness in our lives. It prompts us to recognize the daily moments that bring us joy, which is multiplied when shared.
In 2017, Todd and Nancy Davis began a charitable project, now known as Stems for Seniors, that combined the idea of repurposing wedding flowers with the desire to brighten others’ lives. It became a family project with their children, Meggie and Luke, pitching in to help pick up, arrange, decorate and deliver various bouquets, and the project has continued to bloom more each year.
The concept is fairly simple yet ingenious when you consider that thousands of flowers are thrown away after weddings even though they are in prime condition. Stems for Seniors swoops in and gathers up the floral arrangements after events, dismantles them and creates new, smaller bouquets.
Decorated Mason jars and burlap-covered cans serve as vases and the beautiful gifts are distributed to central Ohio older adults and patients. Common recipients are Friendship Village of Dublin, Dublin Retirement Village, Kobacker House, The Grand of Dublin and LifeCare Alliance.
Barb Holliday is the activities director at Friendship Village of Dublin and loves seeing the joy
the fresh flowers can provide.
“Recently, Stems for Seniors dropped off 50 mini arrangements that we passed out to our residents,” Holliday says. “Another time, they delivered three buckets of exotic, colorful, floral stems like bird of paradise. It coincided with the opening of our memory care unit which was perfect as the residents focused on creating their own bouquets, instead of the somewhat stressful move to memory care.”
LifeCare Alliance runs Meals-on-Wheels for all of central Ohio, and delivers countless bouquets with meals for their clients. They serve 5,000 meals per day and have never allowed a waitlist to form so if there is a need for food, they fill it, and the flowers are the cherry on top.
Sometimes the deliveries are combined with service projects or patient interactions. Luke Davis plays U-12 baseball for the Dublin Black Sox and the team collected 150 soup cans to be used as floral vases.
Another time the team donned their uniforms and set up an assembly line in the parking lot of The Forum at Knightsbridge. They added water and flowers to the cans, boxed up the bouquets and hand delivered them to residents. After sharing a s’mores party and chatting about baseball with the seniors, they all sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
“It is a win-win situation,” Todd says.
The ripple effect is huge. The wedding parties feel great about donating their flowers, the volunteers feel wonderful making a difference and, of course, the recipients are overwhelmed.
“I receive grateful emails regularly about making someone’s day special, and that’s what makes it all worthwhile,” Todd says.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of large-scale weddings came to a halt, but picked up again in 2021. The following year in 2022, Stems for Seniors collected from about 80 events resulting in over 3,000 bouquets. This year they are on track for over 100 events and 5,000 bouquets.
Besides floral donations, some of the volunteers have started a flower garden in five raised beds at the LifeCare Alliance headquarters in Columbus. Dublin resident and master gardener Peggy Davis helps tend the garden and loves doing her part to bring joy to others.
“From the garden I don’t see the actual smiles on the seniors’ faces, but I’m happy knowing how we are brightening their day,” she says.
Stems for Seniors is blossoming so quickly the Davises can barely keep up with the growth. The non-profit 501(c)(3) organization is looking for volunteers to pick up flowers from events – all within 45 minutes of Columbus – and decorate the cans, arrange bouquets and deliver the finished product to older adult communities.
Some of the handiwork can be done at your home, Todd and Nancy’s garage, or an arranged gathering space. They also need donations of soup cans, jars, small vases, fabric and ribbon.
Visit www.StemsForSeniors.org for contact information or to learn about contributing time, items, money or flowers. Follow the group on Instagram @StemsForSeniors and see the power of flowers.
Colleen D’Angela is a Dublin Life columnist and freelance writer. She and her husband, Tony, raised three children in Dublin over the past 25 years. Colleen enjoys playing and teaching pickleball; walking her pup, Mason’ and traveling internationally. You can reach her at colleendangelo1@gmail.com.
