Chelsea Willis, a 2022 Growing Kindness Project Ambassador from Oregon, was drawn to the Growing Kindness Project because it was heart-driven. She first encountered the Growing Kindness Project in mid-2020 on Instagram, when, she noted, “there was a lot of time to scroll.” After following the project for a while and receiving the weekly Words of Kindness emails, she knew she wanted to get involved. “It felt so in line with how I feel about farming and flowers,” Chelsea said.
Chelsea owns and operates Sweet Delilah Farm on Sauvie Island, near Portland, Oregon. Currently in her sixth season of flower farming, Chelsea’s background in social work opened up a unique opportunity to spread kindness in her community. A friend of hers reached out about an event her local Boys and Girls Club was organizing for foster families. They wanted a way for families to make bouquets together to take home. Chelsea donated 300 stems for the bouquets from her flower farm, Sweet Delilah Farm.
Even though the event for foster families happened the same week as Mother’s Day, typically a very busy time for those in the floral industry, Chelsea followed a few steps to make the donation process smooth, while still fulfilling her obligations to her customers. First, she worked with the coordinator of the Boys and Girls Club event to determine what was realistic. Together they agreed on an amount of tulips for each family. Next, Chelsea harvested the flowers and placed them into buckets labeled for the event, separating them from the rest of the flowers in her cooler. She recommends having buckets on hand that can be given away, such as buckets a grocery store’s floral department might otherwise throw out. Finally, she arranged for the event coordinator to pick up the buckets of tulips and explained how to keep them in the best condition prior to the event.
Chelsea’s experience was in supporting young people, so that’s where she gravitated when it came to sharing flowers. Chelsea said, “I’ve had a lot of experiences with kids who are in the hardest moments of their life and they come out on a farm and just watching that process always kind of blows my mind.” Organizations that work with young people, she noted, are typically very open to opportunities or volunteers, but they lack time and resources. If someone is interested in supporting youth in their community, she recommends looking up youth organizations or the Boys and Girls Club in their area.
The heart of the Growing Kindness Project is to build relationships in real life. Sometimes the hardest part of sharing flowers is identifying people and organizations with which to share. Growing Kindness Project founder Deanna Kitchen suggests that individuals find out where their heart is pulled and start there. Everyone has different experiences and eyes to see the needs in their community. Chelsea’s advice is simple: Reach out.
**We’re deeply grateful to GK Ambassador Alumni, Leah Meyring for writing this article, based on a live interview with GK founder, Deanna Kitchen and Chelsea. If you’d like, you can view the recording of the full interview here.