Places That Might Donate Flowers

Do you have a Trader Joes? A friend of mine often goes in at the end of the week and picks up flowers they can't sell any more. She gets them for free and uses them to make small arrangements to take to people she knows who are home bound. A florist might be willing to do the same.

A lot of florists have loose flower "happy hour" one or more days per week, where the loose flowers are heavily discounted. Call around to florists first, they have a vested interest in developing future flower fans!! They may have some flowers left over from a big event or some older flowers they could give you for little or no cost. My mom is a florist, she would totally work with you in this situation.

Funeral homes. Not all the flowers are taken to the graveside and the families can only take so many home. I know they donate all the time.

TF, not all families want all the flowers. You wanted them, but most families say we can only take these could you donate those, or throw them away. Cemeteries have restrictions on how many flowers can go on the grave. Some families live out of town which is what happened with my grandpa, we even donated the plants.

I remember a family that thought it would be cute to have a dozen roses in a vase from each of the 12 grandchildren and then didn't want any of them. You would think the grandchildren would want them. So they asked, what can we do with these. All the guys working that day brought a dozen roses home to their wives. I know, I was one of them. There is a list of nursing homes that will come pick up any unwanted flowers and use them as centerpieces to brighten up the place.

I actually hate cut flowers because of my ex bringing so many home to me.

Why wouldn't a florist donate? If you let them provide a floral decorator to teach the class (vs. the woman you know), and if you took photos and/or invited the local newspaper, the florist would get free publicity providing a service to kids. I realize you don't think kids are good customers of florists, but they are future customers, and their grateful parents would think kindly of the florist! Does the organization have a newsletter or e-blast list? Send photos of the class out to everyone on that list.

I'd ask the local craft store to donate some vases under the same conditions. Why not? It costs them next to nothing, and they get good will.

I've done an unbelievable number of fundraisers, and you'd be amazed at what people will donate to get the word out.

Assuming the organization is a non-profit, community group, I wouldn't think you'd have much trouble. You can stop in to some florists to ask for "advice" and see how receptive they are. Polish up your speech first, and see how far you get.

You could also call the local Garden Club and see who they use. Anything that builds future flower lovers and gardeners is a good cause.

Anything you get from a funeral home won't be something they can plan, and they may have a system already where leftovers are donated to nursing homes and so on - but you won't be able to plan on anything. If nobody dies or the family wants the flowers, you're stuck with no program!

It seems to me that this is
Like any other craft. You buy the supplies. When you finish you take it home. Girls want to participate, they purchase flowers or you collect a set amount from each child and go purchase.

One other idea is to go to dollar tree (or other dollar store) and look over their fake flower bunches/greens. Walmart, joann's, Michaels and other craft stores often have coupons or sales, and may be willing to work with you as well. Many are shockingly NOT tacky, and very life like.

I make to sell (or gift) seasonal wreaths, and often use from my stockpile of these.

The principles of floral arrangement are the same...AND they would have something to take home that would last.

Just a thought.
Best

Two thoughts...

If you used carnations and greens, they wouldn't be extremely expensive. You could try Sam's Club or Costco.

The other option is going straight to your local wholesaler (who the florist buys their flowers from). In Pittsburgh it is the Pittsburgh Cut Flower Company (http://pittsburghcutflower.com/) I'm not sure who it would be in your area.

Also do you have anything like the Center for Creative Reuse? http://pccr.org/

I would go to Dollar Tree, Big Lots, etc. Some grocery store florists might be able to help.

Our funeral home does not donates flowers that have been sent to a family who lost a loved one. As someone who recently experienced the death of a loved one, our funeral home delivered all of the fresh flowers in vases and plants to me. ALL other flowers were placed on my husband's grave. Those flowers were thoughtfully sent to us for my husband.

Now they may donate any flowers that are aging and can't be used in flowers for services. Same goes for flower shops.

When my son passed away the funeral home brought us all the flowers people had so generously bought for the church. Although I greatly appreciated the gesture, I couldn't bear to see the flower arrangements. They just reminded of the funeral. I asked them to donate them. Not sure if they did or not.
Re: your event... It never hurts to ask but I would have a seperate supply fee for the class.

Also, Trader Joe's has the least expensive flowers around that I have seen.