A bouquet of flowers is a special delivery on Valentine’s Day; it’s even nicer when the arrangement comes with a joyful smile and a bit of community support.
That’s the service the region has come to expect from the Rappahannock Area Adult (RAAI) support program that delivers Valentine’s Day flowers across the area.
The program serves individuals with various degrees of developmental or intellectual challenges who rely on a day center for activities, games, outings and community involvement. According to Lacey Fisher, RAAI’s coordinator of day support services, individuals who live in group homes or with family members come to the center to hang out on-site or venture out into the community with support from staff members.
“It’s just helping them have the best life possible and helping them fulfill their goals,” Fisher said.
“The guys are the best delivery people on the planet,” added Alexis Fox, who leads the horticulture program at the day support center, which is under the umbrella of the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB).
RAAI supports about 115 individuals across its five sites, and nearly half of them will be involved somewhere along the process of crafting the holiday bouquets. A smaller group numbering about 15 will personally make the deliveries throughout Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania.
Alexis Fox shows a recipe card that helps volunteers assemble a bouquet. (Photo by Kathy Knotts)
Starting weeks before the big day, participants at the adult day support center wash thrifted and donated vases, write messages on cards and review “recipes” for the bouquets they will assemble. Staff have turned the task of arranging roses, carnations and baby’s breath into an activity that participants look forward to each year.
“We can take tasks and simplify them and that helps build their confidence, they can be successful,” Fox said. “And they get excited, they know which bouquets they made.”
Fox tracks all the orders leading up to delivery day and tries to match locations with a delivery person who can make it more personal.
“It helps us get out in our community,” Fox said. “Sometimes the guys are going out and picking up vases and sometimes people bring them here to us, and it gives us a chance to work on social skills.”
Press the Issue
To order a Valentine’s Day bouquet through the RAAI program, call 540-226-2949 or visit the RACSB website
The fundraiser shines a light on an often-overlooked population.
“We have such a variety of people and everyone has a job they’re really good at,” Fox said. “There is just a piece that everyone can do and sometimes people overlook the fact that they can do so they have more pride in it than say other volunteers would.”
While the flowers themselves come from a bulk warehouse, something is almost always growing in the greenhouses at the RAAI center on Kings Highway in Stafford. In the spring and fall, RAAI hosts plant and flower sales, and then at Christmas, they turn to poinsettias.
“But this is everybody’s favorite sale,” said Fox of Valentine’s Day. “Every holiday is big here. It doesn’t matter how small it is to other people — it’s a big deal around here.”
The fundraiser helps fill the gaps not covered by state or federal funds and keeps this kind of important service running in the region.
RAAI bouquets come with a vase and a message card. (Photo by Kathy Knotts)
“So the thing that’s kind of special about our day support versus a lot of other day supports is that we take people of any level,” said Amy Umble, communications coordinator at RACSB. “Here, there’s something that everyone can do and there’s lots of other activities.”
Individuals can join the activities in the greenhouse and plant seedlings or volunteer with the Fredericksburg Food Bank or exercise at The Y.
“It’s really just having them have the best life possible and help them fulfill their goals,” Fisher said. “There’s so many different pieces that are going on at the same time it really gives them flexibility to do things they want, the things that they’re able to do… it really gives everyone a piece to play not just in horticulture but in skill building and being a part of their community as a whole.”
The response in the community has been overwhelmingly positive, with orders coming in earlier each year.
And the organizers have learned to expect some last-minute calls.
“We’ve learned that some people will wait until the absolutely last day (to order),” Fox said. “So, we know we will get a bunch of calls on the 13th asking if we deliver somewhere.”
(Photo courtesy RACSB)
