The Spirit of Giving: Farmville Florists Celebrate “Good Neighbor Day”

Love was in the air on Wednesday, September 10 as Rochette’s Florist and Carter’s Flower Shop Celebrated “Good Neighbor Day.”

Patrons rushed to the florists as soon as doors opened to receive their free dozen roses under one condition: they keep one for themselves and give out the other 11 as random acts of kindness.

“We saw a great potential here and we started to pick up some corporate sponsors” Said Rochette’s son, Sidney Allen.  “In the first 10 years of doing it, we would have a few corporate sponsors that helped us offset the cost of the roses and we would invite them down to help promote their involvement with the good will event.”  According to Sidney, people would be so overwhelmed by their generosity that they would often times offer money for the roses, although they were already paid for by the sponsors.   This presented a possible opportunity for local charities to benefit.  This year, Rochette’s Florist and Carter’s Flower Shop collected donations to benefit The Farmville Junior Women’s Club “Christmas Wish List.”

“It’s a lot of fun meeting new people from Farmville,” said Courtney Mouser, who celebrated her very first “Good Neighbor Day” as an employee at Rochette’s.  Rochette Allen, owner, commented that her florist has been involved in “Good Neighbor Day” for 18 years.