Smiles bloom at Gananoque seniors home after floral gift

Flower donation brightens seniors' day Lansdowne Ontario landscaper with a blooming business buys flowers for seniors. CTV's Kimberley Johnson reports.

Ottawa — A local Lansdowne business owner, who says his own business has been blooming this pandemic, is spreading joy.

 

Paul Doornbos has owned Thornbusch Landscaping since 2007. On Sunday, he bought hundreds of flower arrangements from local florist Magnolia Flowers in Gananoque to give to seniors at retirement residences and long-term care homes in the town.

 

He says he wanted a chance to support those who may need a boost during the pandemic.

 

“What can I do to brighten somebodies day,” he says. “What can I do to turn around and let others know that, you know what, you are thought of even though it might not seem like it.”

 

The order: 250 flowers - two chrysanthemums, wrapped, with a handwritten note. 

 

Magnolia Flowers owner Natasha Lux says he placed the order weeks ago, and she was excited to be a part of it.

 

“It’s something that lets them know they’re not forgotten.”

 

Dropping them off, proving to be wonderful feeling too, she explains.

 

“They were thrilled and one lady said ‘they just keep coming out of the car! And so we did just bucket after bucket,” laughs Lux.

 

The gift is appreciated by 94-year-old Wilma Hartley.

 

The Carveth Care Home resident says it’s been hard not seeing family and friends during the lockdown.

 

“We were thrilled to death,” she tells CTV. ““Something like this just means that somebody else cares about you.”

 

But it wasn’t just about supporting seniors, it was about supporting fellow small businesses, says Doornbos.

 

Through the pandemic, his business has remained strong, he says, and wanted a chance to put businesses that have struggled to work.

 

In fact, it’s the second time Doornbos has done this, with the first batch going to front-line workers.

 

Lux says it’s a major boost to her business, after a difficult year, the money trickling out into the community,

 

“He knew that it was enough quantity that I would have to bring in a staff member, so somebody would get a full days pay, he knew that I would have to order those from a distributor,” she explains. “It’s something small but it was something bigger.”

But the cost? Doornbos says he’d rather keep that close to the chest.

 

“It wasn’t about the cost it was about how do you turn around and make those who are less fortunate and those who are vulnerable, make their day a little bit brighter,” he says.