Thousands of nursing home residents will enjoy a small memento from the 2012 Tournament of Roses Parade, thanks to a unique program started at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena more than a decade ago. Every year, hundreds of church volunteers load unused blooms from the parade floats, cut them and arrange them into bouquets, and deliver them to rest homes around the San Gabriel Valley.
"A lot of people we visit say, 'You're the only person who has come to see me over the holidays,'" said Keith Jesson, coordinator of the effort. "We touch a tremendous need in the lives of these people just by bringing the flowers, chatting with them, sharing the love of Christ, and asking if we can say a prayer for them. We get an overwhelming response from the individuals who have seen the parade on TV and are so thrilled to be able to touch and smell the flowers."
The ministry began on January 2, 1992, when Tuck and Judy Forsythe happened by Brookside Park and saw truckloads of flowers being hauled away from Phoenix Decorating's massive float pavilions. When Tuck learned that the blooms were being taken to a dump, he asked if he could take some to a nearby nursing home. He and Judy filled their trunk twice before all the flowers were gone, and later that year they contacted Phoenix's President, Bill Lofthouse, to see if they could organize some church friends to distribute more the following New Year.
Since then, Lake Avenue's involvement has grown annually, said Jesson, who took over leadership of the ministry with his wife, Sue, in 1998. That year church members began going from room to room in rest homes to deliver the flowers and talk to residents. Volunteers are given guidelines on how to talk to the frail and elderly, and they go out alone, as couples, families, or in small groups to make the visits.
Last year, more than 300 LAC volunteers took more than 100,000 flowers to some 10,000 residents in more than 100 rest homes. The flowers donated by Phoenix are delivered to rest homes in 22 cities, including: Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Baldwin Park, Burbank, Covina, Duarte, Eagle Rock, Glendale, Glendora, La Canada, La Crescenta, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Montrose, San Gabriel, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Tujunga, and West Covina. It will take about 300 volunteers, working three days, to achieve the goal, Jesson said. They will pick up the unused flowers Sunday evening, Jan. 1, then on Monday morning volunteers will assemble the bouquets and deliver them on Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning, January 3.
One volunteer, Laura, wrote about last year's flower distribution that, "the visit was a wonderful experience. Many of the residents were overwhelmed with joy and were so grateful for our gift. I look forward to participating next year and in years to come."
