Flower Donations Bring Smiles to Faces at Asbury Hospice House

"In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends."

­ -Okajura Kakuzo

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope."

-Lady Bird Johnson

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – (September 18, 2024) While hospice can be an extremely difficult time in the life of a family, it’s also a time for celebration – to honor a life well lived. And if you are going to have a celebration, there must be flowers – beautiful, cheery flowers to provide color and happiness, to bring joy and light up the faces of families, to represent strength and courage.

At Asbury Hospice House, members of the Greater Hattiesburg community are helping celebrate the lives of many on an ongoing basis, while also helping spread cheer to those who care for patients whose stay may be brief. This is done through the donation of flowers from a vast array of events – whether a wedding, an engagement party, Mardi Gras festivities, a Laughs 4 Life fundraiser, FestivalSouth activities, and other social events where beautiful floral arrangements are part of the décor. Following the event, the floral arrangements are donated by the host/hostess and families for others to enjoy.

That’s where “flower ladies” come into play. Enter Leigh Ann Underwood and Erin Bradley, just two of a small group of Hub City women who have taken on the unofficial role of picking up donated flowers and delivering them to places like Asbury Hospice House and other such facilities across Hattiesburg.

“I unofficially started in this role after being invited to a wedding,” Underwood said. “I asked the mother of the bride if she had thought of where to donate the flowers after the wedding.”

Bradley became involved after her daughter’s wedding three years ago. “I asked Chase Welborn, our floral designer, what he was going to do with the flowers, and he told me ‘throw them away.’ I told him he couldn’t do that; people needed to enjoy them, and they needed to make people smile. He told me I’d need to come to the venue the next morning and pick them up.” She arrived with 5-gallon buckets, loaded them with flowers, and proceeded to deliver them to places across the Hub City. And it hasn’t stopped.

These donations started a plethora of donations through the years that have gone to Asbury Hospice House, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities around Hattiesburg. Donations are something both women have encouraged others to do as well.

For Underwood, it’s also a project she’d be more than happy to hand off to a service group who might be willing to take on the project, which involves contacting the place where the flowers are to be delivered, traveling to the event venue at a pre-determined time, picking up the florals, and delivering them where they need to go.

“In the beginning, social media was the only publicity for spreading the word about floral donations. Soon after that, Mardi Gras groups, mothers planning weddings or their floral designers, and church staff began calling to see if we would like their flowers,” said Underwood. ‘We have even received balloon arches, arrangements from churches, and flowers from funerals.” Flowers are usually taken from larger arrangements and wreaths and placed into smaller vases.

Stephanie Weathers Johnson is the mother of a recent bride, Anna Lea Weathers Roberts, who married Blake Roberts on June 22. The Johnson family followed the lead of others and donated beautiful bouquets of pink and white flowers – mostly roses and  hydrangeas - by Welborn from both their wedding and reception venues to Asbury Hospice House and other such facilities.

Johnson said donating the flowers was so wonderful, because she hated to see them go to waste. “For me, Asbury (Hospice) is such a special place to us,” she said. “Jason, my first husband, passed away in 2008. His grandfather, Dr. D.B. Conerly, was an instrumental part of the hospice program in Hattiesburg, so it means a lot to us to have that facility here. (Dr. Conerly was the founder and director of Forrest General Hospice for 10 years). When Jason was in his final days, that facility wasn’t built yet, so we had to stay in the hospital until his passing. I’ve actually been to Asbury on numerous occasions for friends and extended family members. It is such a blessing. Having walked that path, for me to know those flowers were going to possibly bring a smile or brighten a day for someone who was facing really dark days, we were just grateful. It was something very small, but I’m grateful we could share beautiful flowers with people who needed them a lot more than we did.”

Johnson said one of the nurses who helped care for her husband on the oncology floor and later worked at Asbury Hospice told her they were so appreciative of people who brought flowers or snack baskets. “What they are doing on a daily basis is a hard job, and little things like this go a long way,” Johnson said.

Asbury Hospice House Registered Nurses, Maranda Boleware, and Rhonda Grantham, have both seen the faces of family members light up when flowers are delivered to the rooms of patients.

“It makes me feel thankful that people think about us,” said Boleware. “We have a lot of families here who are going through hard times in their lives, and the families are very thankful. Their eyes will light up, and they do cry when you bring them in. I think it is just knowing that someone is thinking about them and wanting to make their day a little brighter whenever they are having to go through this dark period in their life. There are ladies who are here with their husbands just staring at the walls and waiting for the inevitable to happen, and they are so thankful for that little bit of joy in their rooms.”

Grantham enjoys seeing their excitement when flowers are delivered to the room. “We tell them they are for them and who they are from, when we know,” she said. “Their faces just light up. We are all so very grateful that people are thoughtful enough to donate their flowers.”

Boleware professed to having no floral talent, but said the nurses divide the flowers up, sprinkle the packets of flower saver into the vases of water, and arrange them as best they can. Grantham added they make bouquets for each of the 12 patient rooms and then place extras at the nurses’ desk, in the living room area, and other common areas, depending on how many flowers are delivered.

When families go home from their stay at Asbury, the flowers go home with them. “They just make you happy,” Grantham said.

Welborn, who takes great delight in creating floral arrangements for others to enjoy, said having his designs shared, enjoyed and appreciated by more than just one group of people makes him feel good. “If it brings happiness to just one more person, then I’ve done my job,” he said. “Many times, flowers – their colors, their smell, their feel – bring back special memories for people. Flowers have their own language, providing a positive, emotional feeling, bringing smiles, love, compassion, and hope.”

Underwood said the staff at Asbury Hospice House loves getting flowers and always has vases ready for her, complete with water, when she calls ahead to let them know she will be bringing flowers.

“It’s all worth it when I see a family member at Asbury accept the flowers, and it makes them smile,” Underwood said. “They are so appreciative. Sometimes I’ve given them to people outside the facility who I’ve seen crying, and their whole demeanor changes. It helps them feel like they aren’t alone and that others care.”

Underwood said she has delivered the flowers early in the morning. “The staff love getting the flowers after a long night,” she said. “I tell them to take them home and enjoy them there, too. It is funny how many people mention the flower delivery. We are quite happy it has become contagious and has changed the mindset of discarding flowers. Flowers have the power to brighten someone’s day, so please don’t throw them away.”

This past year, The Krewe of Zeus and families associated with events, the Sparky Walker family, and Caroline Azar family shared their flowers with Asbury Hospice and others.

Laughs for Life, an annual fundraiser started by founder Kent Oliver, and the Pine Belt Foundation are two other groups who share their flowers with Asbury Hospice House after the summer event. Oliver has even given the donation process its own special name, Bouquet Next Day.

Generous donations have also been made following FestivalSouth events. 

“Hospice staff are angels on Earth,” said Underwood. “When you have events, please consider sharing your flowers with others. There are so many places that would love some flowers to brighten their day.”

For more information about Forrest General Hospital Hospice, visit ForrestGeneral.org/hospice.