| FTD Good Neighbour Day a Success |
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Written by Rita Truba
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FTD held its 13th annual FTD Good Neighbour Day on Sept.
5 and approximately 500 North American florists took part in the event.
The premise of Good Neighbour Day is simple: florists give every
customer a free bouquet of a dozen flowers and ask them to keep one for
themselves and give the 11 others away to 11 different individuals.
Many florists also combine the event with a donation to a charitable
organization.
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| Tim Clark’s Flowers in Markham, Ont., was one of the Canadian florist shops that took part in the day. |
Will and Amy Pialagitis, owners of Tim Clark’s Flowers in Markham, Ont., were two of many Canadian florists who participated in the event. It was the second year they celebrated FTD’s Good Neighbour Day at the shop. To promote the day, the shop invited the mayor, members of Parliament and other local political figures along with The Centre for Dreams, a local charity that helps provide educational and vocational training to intellectually challenged adults.
The shop collected charity donations for The Centre of Dreams as staff and volunteers handed out flowers. Amy Pialagitis says the shop raised $2,500 for The Centre of Dreams. “It’s a great way to raise money for a charity. We use it as a way to give back to the community and give back to all of our customers,” says Pialagitis.
For Rick Evans, owner of Evans Florist in Moosejaw, Sask., this year marked their fifth FTD Good Neighbour Day. At his shop, instead of giving away a dozen roses, they charge customers $7 and $1 of that goes directly to the Salvation Army. Evans begins planning for the event in advance and pre-sells roses to businesses and corporations ahead of time. On the actual day, Salvation Army volunteers help give out the flowers and a local radio station also spends the day at the shop. This year, Evans says they sold 52,000 roses and raised $5,000 for the charity, bringing their five-year total to $22,600 in donations. “People in the community really look forward to the day,” says Evans.
FTD Good Neighbour Day was started in 1994 by FTD member Brook Jacobs, owner of Greenbrook Flowers in Jackson, Miss. The goal of the holiday is to spread goodwill to neighbours and make new friends through the exchange of flowers.
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