The idea came to Leona Davis a few years ago when her daughter got married: Donate the wedding flowers, which would otherwise be thrown away, to people who would appreciate them. That's how her nonprofit Forget Me Knot Flowers was born.
"Little did I know the impact that this was going to have on those that were receiving these flowers," she recalled. "I saw their faces become alive and light up and there was so much gratitude in their hearts."
Davis, whose day job is as a music teacher at Bells Elementary School in Washington Township, runs her nonprofit out of her Haddonfield home. Volunteers spend Sunday mornings there arranging flowers, and preparing them for delivery.
She estimates she's delivered 12,000 bouquets so far. "Every weekend, we go through hundreds of vases. And typically we go back and get them. But sometimes they become the property of the residents."