Local Rockville Centre Business Partners with Community Leaders to Spread Smiles and Stress Relief, Two Bouquets at a Time.
On Wednesday, October 18th, Art Flower & Gift Shoppe joined floral industry businesses nationwide by surprising unsuspecting people in Rockville Centre and its surrounding communities with two free flower bouquets each — one to keep and one to give to a friend, family member, colleague, or even a stranger. The random-acts-of-kindness effort — called Petal It Forward, organized by the Society of American Florists (SAF), of which Art Flower & Gift Shoppe is a member — was designed to help people start their day with more smiles and less stress. Art Flower & Gift Shoppe is the ONLY local flower shop in the area to participate.
“Today, we gave out over 700 bouquets of flowers, and after seeing the smiles on the unsuspecting people who received flowers, I have decided next year will be even bigger,” adds Keith Linsalta, owner.
At 9 a.m. today at Village Hall in Rockville Centre, Art Flower & Gift Shoppe kicked off this day-long event to Petal It Forward by partnering with The Rockville Centre Breast Cancer Coalition and Francis X. Murray, Mayor of Rockville Centre to honor their breast cancer heroes walking in their fashion show on October 27th at the Garden City Hotel. Each woman received 2 bouquets of flowers – one for themselves and one to Petal It Forward. After the event, Art Flower & Gift Shoppe’s Petal It Forward team traveled throughout the community to hand out hundreds of bouquets to unsuspecting strangers at Mercy Medical Center, Grand Pavilion Nursing Home, Maple Avenue Nursing Home, Jennine E. Hewitt School, and others.
“For over 80 years, Art Flower & Gift Shoppe has been working to support our community,” says Keith Linsalta, owner. “Through the positive effects of flowers, we hope to make someone’s day brighter and provide a much-needed moment of calm amidst the hectic pace of life and the world today. Seeing our neighbors, such as the RVCBCC, stand with us today during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and recognize those who may need an extra smile makes me proud to be part of the Rockville Centre community,” adds Linsalta.
The effort illustrates research from the University of North Florida (UNF) that shows living with flowers reduces stress. A survey by Wakefield Research in July showed that 68 percent of Americans experience stress weekly, and 32 percent report feeling stressed daily. Women are even more affected, with 25 percent reporting they feel stress multiple times a day.
“It should surprise no one that Keith and Art Flower Shoppe wanted to focus on the beautiful things happening in and around Rockville Centre,” says Kathy Baxley, Deputy Mayor of Rockville Centre and RVCBCC board member. “His commitment to our community only reinforces why he invests in this initiative today and every day of the year. The Village of Rockville Centre and the Rockville Center Breast Cancer Coalition are proud to help him kick off this day of kindness and smiles.”
“The impact of giving or receiving flowers is powerful and memorable,” said Linsalata. “It can turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary one.” Art Flower & Gift Shoppe will give away 700 bouquets to people as we make our way through the community. After receiving their flowers, recipients will be asked to spread their happiness by gifting their extra flower bouquet and sharing their act of kindness on social media using #petalitforward and #artflowershoppe.
The original idea behind Petal It Forward’s ‘keep one, share one’ concept, which started in 2015, came after looking at statistics that showed that while 80 percent of people reported receiving flowers makes them happy, even more (88 percent) said that giving flowers makes them happy. “We want to give people a chance to experience both,” said Linsalata. “We all need a reason to smile.”
Click here to read articles from the Long Island Press and Thursd about our Petal It Forward event!