Flower giveaway honors Dr. King
UNITED WAY IN THE NEWS
January 17, 2006
Gesture of peace unites strangers
BY GINA DAMRON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Walking up to the mall entrance, she cradled a dozen white roses.
One by one, she pulled them from the purple paper the bundle was wrapped in and offered them to passersby Monday as a symbol of unity and equality.
"Can I give this to you in remembrance of Martin Luther King?" Velma Golden-Screen asked Rose Wieczorek as she stood in an entranceway to Sears at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights.
"God bless you."
Golden-Screen was one of hundreds of metro Detroiters who participated in an annual flower giveaway supported by Wesley Berry Flowers, which gave about 4,000 free roses at its West Bloomfield and Detroit store locations. The purpose was for each individual to keep one and give 11 to different people as a symbol of peace on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"You don't expect something like that," said Wieczorek, 50, from Clinton Township. "For someone to do that, it's great."
This was just one of many efforts and events -- some solemn, some lively -- that took place throughout metro Detroit Monday. Walks were held in such communities as Southfield and West Bloomfield. A full day of discussions and events was held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.
And in Dearborn, at an event sponsored by United Way for Southeastern Michigan and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, more than 380 volunteers helped pack food for local food pantries, renovated abandoned buildings and took their pets to cheer up senior citizens in nursing homes.
"It was such an enthusiastic crowd," said Patricia A. Ellis, director of media relations for United Way for Southeastern Michigan.
Back in West Bloomfield people paraded into Wesley Berry Flowers, located on Orchard Lake Road near Maple, in droves to pick up roses, which came in a rainbow of colors -- white, yellow, pink, peach and more.
The flower giveaway started about seven years ago, owner Wesley Berry said.
"We hit upon this giveaway as an idea that might allow people to interact with their neighbors or acquaintances," he said. "We thought that that was an appropriate match to Martin Luther King Day because it gives people an opportunity to greet and meet people and perhaps people that they might not ordinarily have an introduction to say hello to."
And that's exactly what Golden-Screen of West Bloomfield and her friend Shirley Jacobs of Bloomfield Township did. The two ambled around Lakeside Mall, offering up flowers to whoever would accept.
Martin Luther King "has done so much and I see all of the things that we need to do," Golden-Screen said, "but I still see the love people exhibit toward each other and it makes my heart sing."
Contact GINA DAMRON at 248-351-3293 or gdamron@freepress.com.
January 17, 2006
Gesture of peace unites strangers
BY GINA DAMRON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Walking up to the mall entrance, she cradled a dozen white roses.
One by one, she pulled them from the purple paper the bundle was wrapped in and offered them to passersby Monday as a symbol of unity and equality.
"Can I give this to you in remembrance of Martin Luther King?" Velma Golden-Screen asked Rose Wieczorek as she stood in an entranceway to Sears at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights.
"God bless you."
Golden-Screen was one of hundreds of metro Detroiters who participated in an annual flower giveaway supported by Wesley Berry Flowers, which gave about 4,000 free roses at its West Bloomfield and Detroit store locations. The purpose was for each individual to keep one and give 11 to different people as a symbol of peace on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"You don't expect something like that," said Wieczorek, 50, from Clinton Township. "For someone to do that, it's great."
This was just one of many efforts and events -- some solemn, some lively -- that took place throughout metro Detroit Monday. Walks were held in such communities as Southfield and West Bloomfield. A full day of discussions and events was held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.
And in Dearborn, at an event sponsored by United Way for Southeastern Michigan and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, more than 380 volunteers helped pack food for local food pantries, renovated abandoned buildings and took their pets to cheer up senior citizens in nursing homes.
"It was such an enthusiastic crowd," said Patricia A. Ellis, director of media relations for United Way for Southeastern Michigan.
Back in West Bloomfield people paraded into Wesley Berry Flowers, located on Orchard Lake Road near Maple, in droves to pick up roses, which came in a rainbow of colors -- white, yellow, pink, peach and more.
The flower giveaway started about seven years ago, owner Wesley Berry said.
"We hit upon this giveaway as an idea that might allow people to interact with their neighbors or acquaintances," he said. "We thought that that was an appropriate match to Martin Luther King Day because it gives people an opportunity to greet and meet people and perhaps people that they might not ordinarily have an introduction to say hello to."
And that's exactly what Golden-Screen of West Bloomfield and her friend Shirley Jacobs of Bloomfield Township did. The two ambled around Lakeside Mall, offering up flowers to whoever would accept.
Martin Luther King "has done so much and I see all of the things that we need to do," Golden-Screen said, "but I still see the love people exhibit toward each other and it makes my heart sing."
Contact GINA DAMRON at 248-351-3293 or gdamron@freepress.com.
Labels: civic engagement, InTheNews
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