Download Newsletter (.doc file) Home Page
by Lee Stevens
The last distribution of roses from our project was for New Orleans. Three hundred Old Garden beauties were divided and used in some very creative ways. Some were given out at church services on the 24th of December to very grateful congregants. One hundred of these roses were used in the creation of a publicly viewed “Garden of Hope” that was designed to fit in the boulevard that centers the roadways that lead into the city. Passerby’s and local residents have commented that the garden makes their hearts happy every time they drive past and see this lovely symbol of recovery.Connie Yuddo, my liaison at Beacon of Hope, is in charge of this organization that reaches out to all residents, regardless of their financial status, and assists them with housing and clean-up and a myriad of other services that will help get them back on their feet. This is how Connie happened to come in contact with a middle aged single woman who was still living in the gutted ruins of her family home, without mold abatement, or utilities. The woman had been caring for her mother before Katrina came to town. Both Patti and her mom were simple in nature and lived in a modest, two-story frame home. They survived the hurricane and the rising, brackish water by climbing onto their roof, where they waited for three days in the grueling heat and humidity while awaiting rescue. Patti’s mother died two weeks later and Patti was left alone for the first time in her life. Her family, her home and her income were all gone in just a matter of days. Fifty of our roses were used as a fundraiser called “Petals for Patti” to help purchase a simple, clean, secure trailer for Patti to live in, and the effort helped bring in enough money to provide her a decent place to live. People purchased the roses, and then gave them back to be sold again and again. Patti now has her own “home” and a beautiful rosebush to remind her how much others care.
I am so thankful to God that we have the opportunity to be a catalyst for hope amid the ruins. Can one rose, one letter really make an appreciable difference in someone’s life? I say a resounding YES, when it is accompanied with love!
Last April we put on a fundraising Victorian High Tea. It was lovely and lavish and a lot of fun! That grand event made possible all the powerfully uplifting and encouraging things I have shared with you in this column. This year we have the potential of making it even better if we all put our hearts and heads together and work as a team of “Rose Ambassadors” for our friends along the Southern Gulf Coast. The date for the Tea will be decided soon. Your involvement in this event will help insure its success. Let’s celebrate our Society’s Golden Anniversary by sending a thousand roses this time!