Mayesh Houston put out a call for volunteers to help with designs for George Floyd’s funeral. The response was overwhelming.
Last week, the team at Mayesh Houston was looking for a way to express their sadness, anger and heartache over the death of George Floyd. So, they put out a call on Instagram asking for floral designers who could help put together between 500 and 800 bouquets for Floyd’s memorial service, held on June 9 in Houston. The response was overwhelming.
Volunteers work together at Mayesh Houston. The company had to limit its outreach to comply with social distancing rules.
“Within an hour of the post we had too many responses and had to take the post down in order to maintain safe social distancing,” said Tawny McJunkins, a project manager at Mayesh. “That in itself was very heartwarming.”
‘A Way to Give Back’
With 50 volunteer floral designers and members of the public ready to help and 7,000 donated cut flowers from Mayesh and hardgoods from Floral Supply Syndicate, Yvonne Ashton, Mayesh’s director of marketing, coordinated a plan with the Texas Organizing Project, a local nonprofit, to get the bouquets to grieving community members. Thanks to the strong response, the team was able to create a total of 1,000 hand-wrapped bouquets.
“The local florists were so quick to jump on the project… the response was just unbelievable,” said McJunkins, noting that the initiative was focused on community-building, not publicity. “It was really about offering whatever small bit of love, light, condolences, sympathy those bouquets could bring the recipient. People were so grateful, and so kind. It was incredibly touching.”
Fawn Dellit of F. Dellit Designs in Houston said she participated because she wanted a way to give back and feel part of the community.
“I wanted to do so much more than to just post on Instagram or Facebook and move on,” she explained. “We all need to take action, to learn, to listen. I think donating our time to make bouquets for George Floyd’s service is just a small, small effort we took to show we cared.”
Fawn Dellit of F. Dellit Designs in Houston was one of about 50 volunteers who helped create 1,000 hand-tied bouquets for George Floyd’s memorial service this week.
A similar spirit motivated about 30 volunteers from both the industry and general public to come together at Greenleaf Wholesale Florist in Houston to create an 8-foot tall floral installation that was displayed in the front foyer of the church for Floyd’s service. The design included a Black Lives Matter fist designed in red roses on one side and the letters “BLM” in a blue and white design on the other side.
About 30 volunteers from both the industry and general public volunteered together at Greenleaf Wholesale Florist in Houston to create an 8-foot tall floral installation that was displayed in the front foyer of the church for George Floyd’s funeral service.
“It was a really heartfelt, cathartic effort,” said Beth O’Reilly, AIFD, Greenleaf’s director of education and merchandising. “We knew we wanted to make a statement in support of Black Lives Matter and in honor of George. We’re all artists, and our language is flowers, so we wanted to speak through flowers.”
A History of Activism
In Washington, D.C., the team at Lee’s Flower and Card Shop also came together this week to show their support for Black Lives Matter, including via a new storefront display created by a local group of artists.
As detailed last year in Floral Management, the shop has a long history in the city and the Civil Rights Movement. In 2018, Rick Lee was a featured speaker alongside D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. At that time, Lee shared his memories of living in the city in 1968, including his own efforts to save the family business from destruction as violence flared in Washington.
An anonymous group of artists helped create a moving storefront in support of Black Lives Matter for Lee’s Flower and Card Shop, a historic business in Washington, D.C., founded 75 years ago.
After Floyd’s death in May, an outdoor mural depicting Lee’s parents, the founders of the business, was defaced, but Stacie Lee Banks, AAF, said a community member already has offered to pay for the repairs. “The dynamics are definitely different from ’68,” Rick Lee shared with the local NBC affiliate late last week as he affirmed the family’s commitment to racial justice. “I’m a very firm believer in God and God I feel will take care of us.”
The Black Lives Matter movement also has inspired black industry members to speak up about their personal stories dealing with racism. “I have been in the event industry for six years full time and I have experienced countless moments that I can tie to racism,” said Bron Hansboro of The Flower Guy Bron in Richmond, Virginia, during the June 10 episode of “Mornings with Mayesh.” Hansboro said he decided to speak up and start the social media movement #unitythroughcommunity to create a “unifying message” for change, and a better future. “I feel like my silence needs to end and that I need to speak directly to racism in our industry.”
The Black Lives Matter movement also has inspired black industry members to speak up about their personal stories, including Bron Hansboro of The Flower Guy Bron in Richmond, Virginia, who shared some of his experiences on the June 10 episode of “Mornings with Mayesh.”
‘The Healing Power of Flowers’
In Birmingham, Alabama, Society of American Florists Next Gen Task Force member Cameron Pappas of Norton’s Florist and Mandy Majerik, AIFD, PFCI, of Hothouse Design Studio and PropHouse were among a group of floral industry members who came together in early June to create an outdoor floral installation. The effort was an attempt to help the community heal after a local protest turned violent.
In Birmingham, Alabama, floral industry members came together in early June to create an outdoor floral installation to help the community heal.
“As florists, we know that flowers bring joy to all situations. We see it every day,” said Pappas. “Florists from all over the city came together as one to create this magnificent installation and end the week on a high note. We want you to come out, enjoy it, and feel the healing power of flowers.”
Starting at 7 a.m., Friday, June 5, about 30 florists erected a massive arch of brightly-colored flowers at the base of Birmingham’s famed 46-foot-tall “Magic City” sign, marking the entrance of the Rotary Trail — a pedestrian-friendly path that meanders downtown and a rare place locals could go for a respite from coronavirus cabin fever.
Majerik described the display as “a love letter” to Birmingham.
“When you don’t know what to do or say, you do what you do best,” Majerik wrote on Facebook. “Our floral community came together to share talented hands and hearts designing this massive fresh floral installation downtown! Thousands of fresh blooms were donated by wholesalers, growers and local shops. Thanks to my fellow floral people for making this happen.”
Look for more coverage in upcoming issues of Floral Management.
Mary Westbrook is the editor in chief of Floral Management and Katie Hendrick Vincent is the senior contributing writer and editor for the Society of American Florists.