Together we bloom for food
NPO: FAMILY LABEL AIMS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR NEEDY
‘When you see that label on a bunch of flowers, you are part of the initiative.’
The hunger of jobless and homeless people haunts everyone with food in the refrigerator – but families, churches, community organisations, NGOs and business during the current lockdown crisis help to provide food through donations or food parcels.
But is it enough? Yet another ray of hope comes from the horticultural industry that is establishing an NPO, Together we Bloom.
It aims to raise money through the sale of specially labelled flowers and plants, with the proceeds going to organisations working with communities in need.
It is an initiative by the Van Geest family, owners of the LVG group of companies and, according to family spokesperson Ivo van Geest, they want to involve the entire horticultural industry, whether it is growers of cut flowers, indoor pot-plants, shrubs, bedding plants, trees, and whatever else gardeners buy to grow indoors or outdoors. It also includes, retailers, garden centres and hardware stores.
The concept is simple. Those who support the initiative will buy Together we Bloom labels to sell. The money raised from the sale of the labels goes to the NPO, which will be managed by an audit firm and independent board.
From there, funds go directly to churches or other NGOs that feed the hungry and know where the greatest need is, said Van Geest.
“People want to know where their money is going and that it is meeting a real need. As individuals we want to help, but do we buy the food that people actually want? That is why we need to support those organisations working on the ground.”
“For the consumer it means that when you see that label on a plant or bunch of flowers, you can be part of that initiative, knowing that funds have already gone to feeding the hungry and most vulnerable,” said van Geest.
The initiative was launched yesterday with a plant auction, led by gardening celebrity Keith Kirsten at MultiFlora, the Johannesburg Flower Market, when it opened for trading after the lockdown.
Plantimex, the marketing arm of LVG plants, donated R100 000 worth of flowering plants for the auction.
The money raised of these auctioned plants will be donated equally to the Cradle of Hope, Bethany House, Tower of Life and Golang Outreach in Zandspruit.
Speaking before the auction, Van Geest said that he had high hopes that the amount raised would far exceed the value of the plants.
With the largest occasion on the horti-calendar, Mother’s Day, just a week away on 10 May, Plantimex decided to donate the best of its flowering plants to the auction, including phalaenopsis orchids and the brilliantly coloured Zantedeschia (indoor arum lilies).
Plantimex prefers to donate rather than dump excess stock, said Van Geest.
“When the lockdown started, we had greenhouses full of orchids, so we decided to bring some beauty into the lives of senior citizens and essential workers by donating plants to retirement villages and old age homes, hospitals, Lancet laboratories, police stations and an informal settlement, KroonPark near Krugersdorp.
The experience of donating money through a hyperstore for disbursement to feeding schemes run by organisations like Cradle of Hope and Golang outreach planted the seed for this initiative.
“We wanted to find a role for ourselves in this and to extend it far beyond the lockdown, so that once the need for food is over, funds can go to education and health, which is another area of huge need,” says Van Geest.