In Bloom Newsletter Spring 2018

The weekend before Mother’s Day, excited groups of mostly (but not exclusively) moms and daughters gathered at the RAF Chicago workshop for our SOLD OUT Mums and Mimosas – flower arranging brunch where participants created arrangements to celebrate the women in their lives and to provide hope and healing to mothers in healthcare facilities in our community!

We are thankful to our volunteer committee and sponsors Legacy Healthcare,
Deerpath Garden Club of Lake Forest, Aristotle Foundation, and Resnick Auto
for supporting RAF and collectively serving more than 550 mothers!

BUT WAIT! We’re not done yet!

Our team is hard at work continuing to celebrate mothers throughout the month with the influx of post-Mother’s Day floral donations. It costs RAF just $5.40 to serve one person – for handling, transportation and general service management. So for every $25 you choose to give now, we’ll deliver an additional four arrangements.
We’d be deeply grateful if you’d consider a gift now.

Scooter Potamites is a job coach at Evanston Township High School’s Transition House, a program whose goal is to “facilitate the independent functioning and self determination of young adults ages 18-22 with disabilities.” Since the fall of 2016, “Miss. P” has jumped on and off the bus three times a week with a fantastic group young adults who volunteer their time to support RAF’s workshop.

“I work with students who have disabilities and we are always looking for partners where students can learn job skills at the same time as contributing to the organization. RAF has been a great fit!” – Miss P.

In a fun, inclusive, and engaging environment, the students complete a variety of tasks to maintain the workshop while also gaining social, emotional, communication, vocational, and other invaluable skills. A total win-win!

She and her students love the mission of delivering hope, and one of the things she especially appreciates is that “the atmosphere at RAF is so positive and upbeat. The students who are volunteering are learning important soft skills as well feeling valued for their work.”

And, RAF’s mission has touched Scooter’s personal life, as well. “While visiting with my grandmother in a rehabilitation facility, she was surprised by a gift of flowers. I was touched when I saw they were from RAF. To me it represented a full circle of giving.”

Peter Valessares, Executive Director of The Hellenic Foundation, plays an important role as an RAF Chicago supporter. The Foundation discovered RAF through one of our healthcare partners, the Greek American Rehabilitation and Care Centre in Wheeling. “We were very impressed by the wonderful reviews provided by the GARCC staff of RAF’s efforts.” So impressed, in fact, that RAF received one of The Foundation’s generous grants to support deliveries to members of Chicago’s Greek Community.

And, he knows that the joy of delivering hope goes both ways. He see the enjoyment experienced by the volunteers and visitors who participate at the workshop and he see the joyful response of the recipients who get the arrangements.

One of Peter’s favorite RAF Chicago memories is when volunteers from the Lyric Opera Orchestra helped plant amaryllis bulbs and perform carols at Hollywood House, a 200 room, senior residential facility, during the holidays. “The staff and residents were overwhelmed by the performance and activities. The music performance was not part of the grant application, but RAF took advantage of an opportunity to provide a wonderful experience to a group of individuals who truly appreciated the moment.”

Random Acts of Flowers Chicago is grateful for their partnership and the opportunity to serve this cherished community, as well as connect our Greek-speaking volunteers with Greek-speaking recipients!

On May 16, RAF staff and four volunteers provided five, 45-minute Hope Blossoms lessons to 100 nine-year-olds at Forrestal Elementary School! Each student made two bouquets. The first bouquet had to be given away to a special friend or family member (with RAF providing a worksheet for the students to complete that asked about who the student was delivering their flowers to and why). The second bouquet was delivered to children at Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Chicago.Brittany Fritz, school social worker from Forrestal, reported “When our students were arranging flowers they each thought of someone they wanted to give their arrangement to and could visualize how happy they would be. Empathy is an important lesson in our social/emotional development and Random Acts of Flowers put that lesson into action. I was grateful that our third graders could be a part of that process.“

Thursday, August 9th, 2018    6-8pm

2000 Greenleaf St. Suite 5
Evanston, IL 60202

The $50 ticket price includes container, flowers, and instruction on floral arranging.