For the sixth year the Memorial Day Flowers Foundation organized the handout and headstone placement of 140,000 roses and summer flowers at Arlington National Cemetery. Thanks to Mayesh, Kennicott Brothers, and other WEFSA wholesale florist members over 125 florists gave out roses at local cemeteries, parades, and from their shops.
Florists who participated had the chance to connect with their communities to honor those who have served our country.
beautiful to see all our veterans honored by so many caring people. One of
the most touching stories I heard was from one of the volunteers, she said
as she placed a rose on the marker and read the name, service history,
age, that person became real to her, not just a headstone of an unknown
soldier. Thanks again for everything”. – Judy Haenel
Major sponsors of the Memorial Day Flowers program for retail florists are ProEcuador and WFFSA.
If your shop is interested in participating in 2017 please have your local wholesale florist contact WFFSA or [email protected].
Hi Ryan,
Yes, such a great gesture long overdue. My only miss giving; would it not have been more fitting to use American grown flowers. Such a shame.
Keep up the newsletters, I enjoy them immensely. 🙂
Thanks for the comments, Lynn.
It’s important to note that this initiative is primarily driven by the South American growers. It’s less about choosing to source from SA, and more about being grateful to the growers who saw a need and stepped up to initiate the action. The growers started this, went to the florists, and encouraged the wholesalers to contribute their facilities and assistance as well.
I could definitely see your point if the florists had started this, then opted not to use American flowers… but that wasn’t the case here.