KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Rinzema Greenhouses, Inc. is paying it forward and bringing smiles to the elderly during the pandemic.
The business spent months growing Easter Lilies to fulfill orders for churches and flower shops this spring, but it was left with thousands of flowers when orders were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Instead of letting the beautiful flowers go to waste, they decided to donate them to brighten someone's day, instead.
"We started out with 22,000 Easter Lilies that we had growing, and I was at one point sold out. I was trying to buy a few lilies to make my orders from other growers," explained owner Michael Rinzema. "And, we did sell some of our crop but it ended up that my son came to me and my wife and they said somebody’s got to enjoy these."
His son Tim added, "They’re very appreciative... A lot of these people, they can’t have visitors now can’t even get out of their rooms to eat dinner... can’t go play bingo, can't play card games with each other, basically a prison for them. So, the staff is very appreciative... You know if somebody else gets to enjoy it that’s really the end product".
The family says they've made deliveries to seven retirement homes around the Grand Rapids area so far.
