Daffodil donations brighten residents’ day

LORNE residents’ days brightened when volunteers delivered bunches of bright yellow daffodils to their doorsteps across the township.

Two local gardeners welcomed a group of 50 volunteers to help pick and bundle 10,000 daffodils into small bunches, and deliver the flowers to every occupied house in town.

The gesture was well received by residents, many of who took to social media to express their gratitude to the volunteers.

Naomi Daly came up with the idea and coordinated the volunteer efforts to create connectivity, purpose, optimism and wellbeing among the community. Naomi said she had done a similar project on a smaller scale and was able to witness how much the gesture meant to people.

“It was twofold really, one was I noticed the daffodils were growing over the last months, and I also did do a little project about a month ago where I picked about a dozen bunches and dropped them round to friends’ houses,” she said.

“No one knew who it was, and it really struck me how much it made people’s day.”

Ms Daly said she was aware of the hardships many were facing and wanted to give them something to be positive about.

“I’d been meeting a bit lately with the Lorne Business and Tourism Association (LBTA) and really getting a feel for the struggles of Lorne in that context because we’re such a tourism orientated town,” she said.

“So many people are affected, like employees who are becoming disconnected from their workplaces and their activity and even our local community.

“So really that social need and need to support the town and give people a good news story all came together. So I ran it past the LBTA and said ‘what do you think of this’, and they liked the idea. Then it was just a matter of getting on the phone and rounding a few friends and family.”

Ms Daly said people were very eager to help.

“I’ve never asked an easier question in my life. Everyone wanted to do it and I think the people giving the flowers were probably the greatest beneficiaries,” she said.

“A lot of the time we were just putting them (the daffodils) down and going but every now and then you might come across someone and just that reaction of ‘What? These are for me, for no reason This is amazing.’ People really loved it.

“It reminds Lorne that we have a very small yet robust community that can pull together to do amazing things.”