High schoolers to launch nonprofit that delivers free flowers to seniors
By Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield
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MINNESOTA (WCCO) — At least a third of older adults in the U.S. experience loneliness, which is linked to a 50% higher dementia risk. With that in mind, two Minnesota high schoolers are launching a nonprofit called Blossom of Blessings.
There’s a lot going on at Indulge & Bloom at Maple Grove Floral. It’s time for a special delivery and a special announcement to two special customers, Andrew Heiden and Hayden Sterling.
“Our floral supplier, Len Busch Roses, has offered to give us some of their stuff so that we can help make most bouquets to give back to the community,” said Indulge & Bloom’s Raed Kakish. “Keep doing it. I’m supplying you now, move forward.”
And Kakish was surprised, in a good way, to hear about their mission to deliver fresh flowers to seniors for free.
“When I was in church one day, it was a message about love and kind of spreading love to others,” Heiden said. “It kind of just came up in my head one day and I decided to commit to it, and I called Hayden later that night.”
“I really like working with him so it’s perfect, and I like helping people out, too,” Sterling said.
“I was thinking like some of these people may not get a lot of visitors,” Heiden said.
And it’s just the beginning for the Wayzata and Armstrong high school students.
“I do want to turn it into like a registered nonprofit,” Heiden said. “That’s probably a goal probably sometime this year.”
They started making bouquets a year ago, and support is blossoming. WCCO tagged along during a visit to SilverCreek on Main, a senior living complex in Maple Grove.
“It’s so wonderful to see young men of their age be so kind and considerate to us elderly people, I think it’s wonderful, absolutely wonderful,” said one of the residents.
Both Heiden and Sterling plan to attend the University of Minnesota.
You can find more information on Blossom of Blessing on Instagram. Heiden and Sterling have also launched a GoFundMe account to help with their endeavor.
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