PARMA, Ohio -- Oberlin-based greenhouse Green Circle Growers wanted to offer gratitude to the nation’s frontline healthcare workers battling the coronavirus and they had just the thing to do it - orchids. Thousands of them, all in full bloom.
So, with the help of local volunteers, Just Add Ice orchids, Green Circle Growers’ brand of orchids, donated $1 million worth of orchids to seven markets hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. There were several deliveries Wednesday.
"In this extraordinary time, it was important to our organization to find ways we could contribute and the answer was clear - our orchids can brighten some of the darkest days,” Scott Giesbrecht, Co-CEO of Just Add Ice and Green Circle Growers, said in a statement. “And we realized our nation’s healthcare workers have been experiencing some of the darkest days of our lifetimes. If our orchids can provide a bit of joy and color for these very deserving individuals, we felt it was the least we could do during this difficult time.”
Kathy Holley, a nurse manager and coordinator of Nurses Week at the University Hospitals Parma campus, said, “It’s overwhelming. We come here to do what we love to, which is take care of patients. And to have this recognition is a sweet thing for us."
Just Add Ice Orchids donated 400 plants to the Parma hospital. They will be distributed to various nursing units throughout the hospital.
Grace Church in Middleburg Heights was tasked with delivering the flowers.
“It’s really great to brighten their day," said Neil Clark of the church. “I know they’re working through a difficult time and so if we can bring a smile to their face that’s what we’d really love to do."
In Northeast Ohio, orchid deliveries were made to local hospitals, food banks, homeless shelters, nursing homes, correctional institutions, police and fire departments, and more.
In addition to the Ohio donations, more than 50,000 orchids will be delivered to those on the frontlines in Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Tampa, Fla.