CHESTER
COUNTY
April 2022
Sharing Joy Through Flowers
BY FRANCINE FULTON
In the summer of 2018, Chester County resident Beth Adams founded Petals Please, a nonprofit organization whose volunteers would take large bouquets of flowers such as those displayed at weddings and funerals, break them down into smaller arrangements and then distribute them to local senior citizens as a way to brighten their day. In the beginning, she and a few friends gathered the flower donations themselves and completed the work to repurpose them in Adams’ garage. Since then, Petals Please has expanded its services and now has more than 100 volunteers who deliver flowers to sites such as Harrison House in Coatesville, Newport Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Christiana (formerly Harrison House), Tel Hai Retirement Community in Honey Brook and
the Pocopson Home in West Chester. Flowers are also presented to clients served by Home of the Sparrow in Exton and Meals on Wheels of Chester County. Most recently, Petals Please presented arrangements to staff members at the Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County in observance of Employee Appreciation Day. “We have gifted over 50,000 bouquets to individuals in our community,” Adams reported, noting that the flower distributions continued during the pandemic. “Because the senior care communities were so isolated during COVID, any kind of gesture of kindness was uplifting and so appreciated.”
During the pandemic, Petals Please volunteers also began delivering fresh flowers to first responders and staff members at Brandywine Hospital. “It was a small gesture, but really appreciated,” said Adams. A young Petals Please volunteer presents a flower bouquet continued on page 4 to a nursing home resident.
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