When her mother told her shops throw away “left-over” flowers, Izis came up with a much better idea; make beautiful bouquets and surprise lonely elderly.
Flowers thrown away
The four-year-old Dutch girl Izis went with her mother to the supermarket and saw that some bouquets had a sticker. "What does that sticker mean, mommy?" "That they are on sale. And the unsold flowers will be thrown away. "But that’s not okay, is it?" the toddler said.
This is how ‘flower girl’ Izis and her mother came up with a heartwarming action: saving flowers and bringing them to lonely elderly people.
New bouquets
"Those flowers are therefore literally thrown in the garbage container when they are "overdue" and have not been sold. Such a waste. So we came up with the following: we pick up the flowers that would otherwise be thrown away. At home, we collect all the flowers, sort out the most beautiful ones, and create new bouquets." – said Izis’ mother Lauri, who used to work in the flower business and knows all about arranging flowers.
Lonely elderly people
When the bouquets are made, they load them in Izis’ little cargo bike and visit lonely elderly people. Laurie says "Many elderly people are often staring outside the window, hoping for some contact from someone who passes by.
Human Contact
Laurie receives tips on who to deliver the flowers to. She tells Izis and she makes sure that the flowers are delivered. What happens next is so heartwarming… When a senior citizen opens the door and sees Izis standing in front of the door with a bouquet of flowers, they often respond very emotionally and are intensely grateful.
Contagiously inspiring
After the initial action in December 2018, they got so many heartwarming responses that they decided to continue the initiative. They now pick up flowers two to three times a week on average per week at the local supermarket. The next they the bouquets are made and delivered. Sometimes by car to spare Izis. They now make about 10 to 15 bouquets per week. And recently a second Albert Heijn Supermarket offered to join the initiative and donate flowers.
Watch Izis in action
Seeing Izis the "flower girl" in action will warm anyone’s heart
103 acts of kindness
If you're inspired by Izis her initiative to do an act of kindness but don't know what to do, here are 103 things you can do.