There’s nothing better than getting flowers, unless you are the one giving the flowers to someone in need.
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You can buy yourself flowers, like the song suggests, or you can do this instead and it may feel even more empowering.
Flowers are an uplifting little luxury, and during springtime can be a perfect pick-me-up for a solo day out, a gift for a loved one, a token for someone that is grieving and more. They are rooted in our society, pun intended, but also have proven effects in our psyches as well, according to many studies. One such study, “The Home Ecology of Flowers Study” out of Harvard University, proved that cut flowers in the home increased compassion and decreases anxiety and worry.
If this piques your interest, should you live in or near Brooklyn, New York, BloomAgainBklyn is the nonprofit to know about.
Instead of delivering food or clothing to those in need, the organization donates beautiful floral arrangements, made with love and care by their large list of weekly and monthly volunteers. The group was founded by Caroline Gates Anderson in 2014, in Brooklyn, hence the name.
Volunteers at BloomAgainBklyn around a vase of donated flowers to repurpose.
BloomAgainBklyn
“The idea came very naturally—I spent over 20 years at Scholastic Publishing, and also had a gallery where I constantly used flowers for openings and events,” said Anderson. “My family also always connected over flowers. Some families gather around the kitchen together, we gathered around nature and arranged blooms together. I was always struck by how quickly beautiful arrangements were discarded after just a few hours. It felt wasteful and sad. I kept thinking, these flowers still have so much beauty to offer. Flowers have the ability to connect and welcome people in a natural and safe space. What if we could give them a second life—and deliver that joy to someone who truly needs a lift?”
That is exactly what she did, and now the organization has over 3,000 yearly volunteers, over 70 community and corporate partners and has delivered more than 200,000 arrangements. The massive success can be seen in real time, as the electronic signup sheet typically fills up and spills over onto a waitlist within minutes of it being emailed out—we’ve tried each month to snag a spot with no luck, just to test this theory.
What makes this volunteer opportunity so popular, aside from offering a unique experience? Anderson shared a few stories from her nonprofit from the volunteer and recipient side—both of whom agree that the hands-on activity and the beauty of getting flowers is what keeps them involved.
BloomAgainBklyn
“There’s something incredibly soothing and joyful about working with your hands—being in the moment, without any of the noise and hardships that are weighing on you,” explained Anderson. “One volunteer said to me, ‘I didn’t think I had a creative bone in my body, I am a numbers person, but this has really raised my self esteem and has inspired me.’ Another individual who was a recipient of an arrangement when at an organization that was directing her to services to get out of an abusive relationship became a volunteer herself. She said, ‘I was deeply touched that this beautiful vase arrangement was made specifically for me, to support me in this difficult time and I then became a volunteer myself and found this supportive and nurturing community’.”
BloomAgainBklyn not only provides these lasting memories for those in nursing homes, women’s shelters, hospitals and more, but the nonprofit is also one that champions sustainability.
The cut flower industry was valued at $31.1 billion in 2024, according to Global Market Insights, The report also notes that supermarket buying has been growing steadily from 2019 onward, and also cited the return of in-person events like weddings and parties to be a driver of the industry’s current bloom. With demand also inevitably comes waste, and that is where Anderson and her floral friends come in.
“Our breakdown team works with many venues and planners. We offer a service to pick up fresh flowers that would otherwise be discarded—from galas and events, weddings, florists, retailers and wholesalers,” said Anderson. “Oftentimes the flowers have never been used—it’s an overage. On top of that, we’re thoughtful about our materials—we reuse vases, compost green waste, and run efficient, small-batch delivery routes. Sustainability is in our DNA.”
BloomAgainBklyn
She makes a great point, as not only can flowers be wasted but so can the packaging materials from traditional grocery story or shipped flowers. They typically use foam and single-use plastics that never make it to the proper recycling facilities. Flowers can also be composted, but rarely are, ending up in landfills and creating harmful gasses. According to this 2022 report out of Canada, they cited traditional floristry produced up to 100,000 tons of plastic waste each year.
In honor of Earth month, and really all year long, not only can we try to choose greener options like flowers grown in the US and opting for paper wrapping over plastic when given the choice, you can also compost your wilted blooms. In New York, it is now actually required to compost, punishable by fine starting on April 1.
And, should you find yourself with free time on a weekday or for a special event on select weekends, BloomAgainBklyn is a great place to help out. If you can’t seem to snag a spot, or live farther away but want to help fund their work, there is also a donation area on the site to help keep the non-profit in bloom.
“BloomAgainBklyn is all about the volunteers who give there time about those we serve become part of the BloomAgain family,” said Anderson in closing. “Beauty has a role in service. It’s not frivolous. Whether it’s a flower, a kind word, or a moment of joy, it deeply matters. We’re proud to be part of an organization that brings care and dignity in a unique and tender way.”
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