In the summer of 2018, Chester County resident Beth Adams founded Petals Please, a nonprofit organization whose volunteers would take large bouquets of flowers such as those displayed at weddings and funerals, break them down into smaller arrangements and then distribute them to local senior citizens as a way to brighten their day. In the beginning, she and a few friends gathered the flower donations themselves and completed the work to repurpose them in Adams' garage.
Since then, Petals Please has expanded its services and now has more than 100 volunteers who deliver flowers to sites such as Harrison House in Coatesville, Newport Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Christiana (formerly Harrison House), Tel Hai Retirement Community in Honey Brook and the Pocopson Home in West Chester. Flowers are also presented to clients served by Home of the Sparrow in Exton and Meals on Wheels of Chester County. Most recently, Petals Please presented arrangements to staff members at the Crime Victims' Center of Chester County in observance of Employee Appreciation Day.
"We have gifted over 50,000 bouquets to individuals in our community," Adams reported, noting that the flower distributions continued during the pandemic. "Because the senior care communities were so isolated during COVID, any kind of gesture of kindness was uplifting and so appreciated."
During the pandemic, Petals Please volunteers also began delivering fresh flowers to first responders and staff members at Brandywine Hospital. "It was a small gesture, but really appreciated," said Adams.
Volunteers also had to adapt their flower donation efforts during the pandemic. "Because funeral and weddings were stopped, that source of donated flowers dried up. We reached out to local farmers (in the summer) to cut clippings from their own gardens and bring them to us so we would make arrangements that way," Adams said. "Interestingly, we found that when weddings were downsized, brides kept their big flower budgets (and) they donated their flowers. They were trying to find a way to do something good in a trying time."
In addition to flowers gleaned from weddings and funerals, the charity also accepts donations from high school students who attend the prom as part of its "Second Dance, Second Chance" program. "We rescue flowers," said Adams. "The flowers that we take would likely have been discarded."
Some of the flower arrangements are placed in small vases and teacups, while a majority of them are placed in decorated cans. Volunteers, including local Girl Scout troops, decorate the cans and sometimes help with the distribution of the bouquets at the nursing homes.
"(It is) incredibly uplifting not only for those who receive the flowers but the people who create the arrangements," said Adams. "(We want to provide) something cheerful and bright for senior citizens (and others) to know someone was thinking about them."
For more information about Petals Please, visit http://www.petalsplease.org or http://www.facebook.com/petalsplease.
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