Flowers of hope to be distributed
March 20-24, truckloads of daffodil bouquets will be distributed to various cancer patients and businesses throughout the nation, including the Fargo-Moorhead area.
So far, 80 cases have been sold in F-M with 50 bouquets in each, which means a large amount of delivering will need to occur.
A group of five NDSU students have been working to promote volunteer awareness for the fundraiser through a class they are taking.
Kali Rheingans, Sara Folkestad, Ben Cory, Chrissa Miller and Justin Hills, upperclassmen and women in mass communication, are spearheading a volunteer drive for the event to help wrap, sort and deliver the daffodils.
A booth was set up in the Memorial Union from Wednesday until Friday to acquire volunteers, and the wrapping and sorting will take place March 17. The following Monday the bouquets will be delivered to businesses.
“ It’s simply the volunteering that we really need,” Cory said.
“ Helping kids at NDSU to have that general awareness of the fundraiser is our main goal,” Miller said. “We’re trying to promote the event so that students will remember it for years to come.”
Participation in Daffodil Days gives students a way to get involved with the fight against cancer.
Other fundraisers, such as Relay for Life and Walk for the Cure, are more well-known than Daffodil Days, but the event is “just as important,” Rheingans, who also majors in business, said.
The event is an alternative for students who can’t participate in walkathons and other fundraisers.
“ Daffodil Days allows students to save their walking shoes,” Rheingans said.
For many victims of cancer, a flower of hope is exactly what is needed to help fight cancer, which is why the daffodil was chosen, Stacy Wingerter, the community relationships manager of the American Cancer Society, said.
Wingerter also said the AgBusiness organization and Colleges Against Cancer have been helping out with Daffodil Days.
The daffodil is “the first flower of spring, a symbol of hope, renewal and the promise that one day our world will be free of cancer,” according to the American Cancer Society Web site.
The proceeds of the fundraiser will go toward cancer research and medical treatments.
“ The American Cancer Society is fighting to save lives through their research program, education, advocacy and patient services,” Wingerter said. “We have awesome researchers who are working tirelessly to find a cure.”
The American Cancer Society is also working on securing funding that will improve the quality of treatment for cancer patients and the quality of life for cancer survivors.