In full bloom: More than 1,000 orchids donated to SVMC Monache graduate helps to give back to community
Westerlay Orchids, an orchid company out of Carpinteria, Calif., has taken on the 100,000 orchid challenge. Their goal is to donate 100,000 orchids to health care workers, first responders and essential workers who are working on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their generosity was extended to each employee at Sierra View Medical Center on Tuesday morning.
A large shipment of more than 1,000 orchids was delivered to SVMC on Tuesday and there was an orchid plant included for every single employee of SVMC. The small plants came in a variety of colors including burgundy and white.
Westerlay Orchids is owned and operated by Toine and Kandie Overgaag. Kandie Overgaag is a 2000 Monache graduate.
On April 10, Westerlay Orchids announced they were accepting the challenge with a Facebook post that read, “100,000 Orchids Challenge. Help us donate 100,000 orchids to nurses and doctors in California. To date we have sent 20,000 orchids, but we need your help.”
As of Tuesday morning, it was reported the company had donated more than 50,000 orchids to different facilities across California including Adventist Health in Glendale and Bakersfield, Kaiser Permanente Kern County, the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Kellogg School in Santa Barbara.
“Giving has truly been a gift for us at Westerlay,” read a post from the company’s Facebook. “Seeing the smiling faces behind the mask and the joy that this simple gift of gratitude provides has been uplifting for our team.”
Originally, 700,000 orchids were grown to ship to supermarkets for sale, but after the coronavirus pandemic hit the state, Westerlay Orchids’ sales decreased quite a bit, leaving the company with an overstock of plants.
“Now with the coronavirus pandemic, we are
looking at lots of orchids with very few sales,” said Toine Overgaag, owner of Westerlay Orchids, in an interview with
ABC7 in April. “Our sales are about 25 to 30 percent of normal, so obviously from a business standpoint is scary. But on the other hand, we’re saying to ourselves how do we make something positive out of this?”
So the orchid farm took on the challenge and have been donating orchids ever since. While they are continuing to donate, Westerlay
Orchids is still selling their orchids online, and offer free delivery straight to the front door. They have made wholesale boxes of orchids available to ship for free anywhere in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon at below wholesale prices. To view their prices and assortment of orchids, visit www.boxoforchids.com.