Flowers a lovely pick-me-up for seniors
Jeannie Redekop smiled as several dozen beautiful floral arrangements were dropped off at Cobblestone Gardens Retirement Residence in Thorold.
“When they (Creekview Floral Co.) called and said they were bringing them for our residents — that’s awesome,” she said.
“Someone’s thinking about us here. Our residents are going through a hard time, a lot of staff are continually here, it’s just nice to be thought of.”
The residence does not have any cases of COVID-19.
Redekop, the administrator, and several staff quickly wiped down and disinfected the planters before taking them inside.
The gesture seemed a simple thing to do for Michael and Lydia Rekrut after they got a donation for their start-up floral shop in Thorold.
Lydia, who has worked for eight years in the floral business, and the past two years in event design, said it was always a dream of hers to open a shop.
She said it was very sudden, when they heard the owners of A Yellow Flower Basket were retiring, that she and her husband decided to take it on — and not foreseeing the challenge the current situation would bring.
Since opening Creekview Floral Co. Feb. 11, the couple have been making the most of it.
The flowers brought to the retirement home Saturday came about from a friend of the family.
“This was a philanthropic donation from a gentleman who was going to Italy and has had to postpone,” said Michael.
“He wanted to give back to the community and when he learned we had opened in a trying time, reached out to us and said, ‘I’d like to do something for your community.’ And this seemed like the most appropriate.”
Michael, a paramedic with Niagara Emergency Medical Services, knows a lot of families who are missing their elder