Volunteers Collect 400 Flower Bouquets, Surprise Pittsburgh Hospital Workers During Shift Change
ALLEGHENY COUNTY (KDKA) -- A handful of volunteers made 400 flower bouquets and surprised health care workers at two local hospitals.
With her floral design studio sitting idle during the coronavirus pandemic, Karen Toole wanted to help support flower growers and say thank you to health care workers.
She and some fellow small business owners came up with the idea of buying flowers and giving them away during shift change to doctors, nurses, and staff at UPMC St. Margaret and UPMC Passavant.
"Let's not just do a few bouquets. Let's get a lot of flowers, and let's make 400 bouquets," said Toole.
To make that happen, it took 600 pounds of flowers, an army of more than 20 volunteers to assemble the bouquets during a Zoom event and the generosity of the community.
A GoFundMe campaign raised $4,000 in three days to help buy the flowers.
"It was amazing to see how the whole community just rallied behind us and thought this was a really cool idea," says Toole.
Workers were surprised with bouquets as they left work on Friday.
"You guys have been out there, getting up every day, and working so hard. On behalf of the whole community, we are extremely grateful," said Toole.
