“We were inspired to start the project at UNC after reading a story about a woman in Idaho who turned unwanted flowers from weddings into bouquets for hospice care patients,” Stember said.
For Stember and Gutgsell, Heeling Flowers was the perfect marriage of the pair’s interest in flowers and medicine.
Gutgsell’s interest in flowers bloomed after taking an undergraduate flower arranging class and Stember’s interest stemmed from her passion for floral photography.
Both women are graduate students in the biomedical sciences and saw the healing powers that flowers could have on patients.
The first step the organization takes in putting together bouquets for patients is collecting containers to put the flowers in.
Barbara Cheek, owner of the thrift store Barbara’s Hidden Treasures, has donated boxes of vases from her store to Heeling Flowers.
“I thought that what they did was amazing,” Cheek said. “They do it all themselves and they do it out of the kindness of their hearts.”
Heeling Flowers takes container donations not only from generous businesses but also from yard sales and resources such as the UNC Free and For Sale Facebook page.