Thank You Winnipeg!

We did it, Winnipeg!  We made the impossible, possible.  Together, we made 1025 flowers blossom on the first day of Spring right here in Winnipeg.  Together, we raised $20,475 for Habitat for Humanity so that they can put hard working, deserving families into safe, decent and affordable housing.  That’s something we can all be proud of.

Darryl Stewart of IBEX gives Sandy Hopkins of Habitat for Humanity the “BIG Cheque”.

Deputy Mayor Justin Swandel pledges $1,000 to take us up to $20,000.

We owe it all to 26 community groups who made the flowers, to more than 70 businesses and individuals who gave generously to Habitat, to our major sponsors Lazer Grant and 6PMarketing, to our other sponsors Taylor McCaffrey, Sierra Courier,  ArtsJunktion, The Forks, and  Wallace and Wallace Fencing and of course to IBEX for spearheading this campaign and making whatever resources were needed available at any time.

The weather of course was also a big part of our project.  Lack of snow, rising river waters, and wind were some of the elements Mother Nature brought our way.  But despite it all we were still able to Plant it Forward – after all we’re Winnipeggers and can handle all types of weather!  The only unfortunate effect was that we could only display the flowers for one day to prevent major wind damage to the flowers.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the flowers at the Forks, enjoy these photos and look for more by clicking here!

Thank you, once again Winnipeg for your support.  We love you!

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And still, we plant it forward

It was a cold and blustery day, the kind of day when you just want to stay inside and drink hot bevies.  Not the kind of day you’d imagine yourself outside all day to plant spring blossoms.  But that’s exactly what 50 of us did today at the Forks.

Volunteers from Luxton School, Hope Centre, the Vincent Massey Trojan Football team, 6P Marketing, IBEX and really, really good friends and family  all helped to display 1025 hand crafted, recycled flowers.  It was a sight to behold.  Despite the runny noses, red-numb fingers, toques pulled down low, and constant shivering – spirits remained high.  And within four to five hours the whole display was up.  Well, actually some of it was up then down and then up again as the wind tried to whisk away some of the flowers.  But we did not lose heart and final secured the blossoms.

As a result of our efforts, there are 24 panels of 4feet high x 6feet wide fencing covered in flowers.  It is an impressive sight, or at least that’s what today’s spectators told us as they admired the variety and creativity of the flowers.

What will the display look like tomorrow morning?  It’s anyone’s guess.  Will the wind finish off the flowers over night?  Will vandals have a go at our flowers?  It’s hard to say.  But no matter what, we will celebrate the spirit and generosity of everyone involved with Plant it Forward tomorrow.

But beware, with afternoon winds forecast to gust to 50km, this display will be up for one day only.  If you want to see them, tomorrow between 11am and 2pm is your best chance.  I’m looking forward to seeing you!

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We’re now at the Forks Market Plaza!

We will be planting at the Forks from 10-2pm at the Forks Market Plaza! We went down to visit the Historic Port today and it’s already starting to flood… so we’ve changed our location to the plaza, which some of you may know as the “circular ice rink.” We’ll have several groups helping us with tying the flowers onto the fences and making sure the site looks beautiful for Saturday! There should be a photographer from the Winnipeg Free Press to take pictures, so make sure you brush your hair and practice your smile in the mirror before you come out.

See you there!

– Mary

The flowers were made by the following local groups:

bring your cameras!

111th Brownies
20th Winnipeg Cub Scouts
219 Girl Guides
6P Marketing and friends and family
Art City
Boys & Girls Clubs of Winnipeg
École Riverview School
Good Neighbours Active Living Centre
Habitat for Humanity families
Hope Centre Inc.
IBEX and friends and family
Lord Roberts Community Centre
Luxton School
Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art
Protegra
Riverview Community Centre
Riverview Families
Ryerson Boys & Girls Club
Starbucks Southglen
Tomboy Tools
U of W – Faculty of Education Students
Vincent Massey Collegiate Trojans Football
Visions Of Independence Inc.
Wallace & Wallace Fences Ltd.
Windsor Park Collegiate Friends of Rachel Club
Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary Schools

our grand finalé, will just be the beginning

Butter pecan squares are incredibly distracting.

Yet, the main thought on my mind is that Winnipeg is truly wonderful – as I update our totals for Plant It Forward, currently 1021 flowers and $18,656.

I don’t know whether it’s Winnipeg’s big hearts for philanthropy, or love for crafting that has made Plant It Forward a success, but we’re pretty proud of what’s been accomplished so far. However, Winnipeg, we must continue our passion for local causes and stay supportive of our own community. We have hard winters and heinous urban sprawl that leaves our architecturally gorgeous downtown lifeless and empty. We still have a long way to go.

Our office is completely covered in flowers, and at 10:12am every morning, our team spends a few minutes ooh-ing and aw-ing the new flowers. They’ve become our surrogate babies, and I know a few tears will be shed as we give them away on Saturday at the Forks.

We didn’t quite meet our target for $30,000 to give to Habitat for Humanity, but we’re almost at $20,000! With all the natural disasters this year has seen, we’re pretty excited to have raised as much as we did for our local cause.

I’ve stayed as focused for as long as I can… but the butter pecan squares have quit whispering my name and have started yelling it.

See you at the Forks this weekend!

– Mary

Friday Planting: 10-2pm

Saturday Festivities & Celebration: 11-2pm

No Snow – No Problem

Stick the flowers in the snow,

a beautiful garden will grow,

alas, there is no snow,

how will our garden grow?

Don’t worry!  We have found a new planting method and it works like a charm.

Thanks to Wallace and Wallace Fencing, we now have 25 portable, free standing fencing panels that we can decorate and move anywhere we want to.  Yeah!

With the help of some IBEX volunteers and our new friends from Tomboy Tools we were able to test out our new planting method.  Zippy ties, wire and pliers were our favourite tools as we mounted about 350 flowers on 8 panels.  And, I must say, they look fabulous.

This new display method will really showcase all the different recycled materials people used and the amazing, unlimited creativity of all our Green Thumbs.  Whether made by a 3 year old or a 99 year old, every flower exudes the creativity and enthusiasm with which it was made.  I know you’ll enjoy seeing how people  have transformed everyday recyclables into  flowers.

If you’re still looking for a way to participate, there’s three things left to do:

1. Help us plant the remaining flowers at the Forks on Friday, March 19 from 10am to 2pm.
2. Join the celebration and see the display at the Forks on Saturday, March 20 from 11am to 2pm.
3. Make a donation to Habitat for Humanity through Plant it Forward

Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare for the big reveal.

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We are so close…

Flower Status:

Current total: 983

Goal: 1000

Let’s do the math:  1000 – 983 = 17

We just need 17 more flowers to reach our goal!

distracted… flowers on my mind

Seems like the idea of making flowers out of recycled materials has boomed! The image search results on Google have boomed, anyway. Take a look at some of the new photos I’ve found on Google, for your inspiration. We’re now at 844 flowers, but we still need a little more! See if you’re struck by any of these images 🙂

Note: paper may not hold up in this rainy, gross weather – you may want to try substituting some of these materials with something more durable.

– Mary

Wondering when you can come visit us at the Forks?

We were wondering that too.

You can come between 10am – 2pm on Friday, March 19 to help us finish planting at the Historic Port at the Forks.

Then between 11am – 2pm on Saturday, March 20, the flowers will be up and we will hand off the cheque to Habitat for Humanity. During Saturday, we will have face painters and you can come pick your favourite flowers to take home! We will also have a donation jar for those who’d like to drop some change for us to give to Habitat for Humanity.

Our current total is $15,276 – a little short of our goal to raise $30,000, but still an impressive number. This project really made the time fly by… I can’t believe it’s almost March 20th! We’re less than two weeks away. Hopefully we’ll get a blizzard before then so that we can plant the flowers in the snow, as planned. Darryl and Getty are busy thinking up a Plan B – I think they may come up with an interesting solution, with a little help from Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg.

I just finished my 6th slice of pizza, today. So forgive me for any typos in this blog post, as my fingers are greasy and the blood has escaped my head.

Anyways, I look forward to seeing you all there!

– Mary

Wowzers: Thank you, Lazer Grant

$2500 from Lazer Grant. No big deal. Because it’s a HUGE deal.

Our numbers: As of today, we’ve reached a total of $13,216 – 44% of our goal of giving Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg $30,000.

Looks like we’re getting there… We’re still getting calls from groups that would like to submit flowers. We’re still getting emails from businesses and individuals that would like to donate to our cause. Yet, with only a week left, we still have about half to go! We can pull it together, Winnipeg!

Lazer Grant LLP Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors provides Accounting, Audit, Tax assistance and Business Development services. They are based in Winnipeg and are experts in Manitoba’s business environment. Visit their website for more information.

welcome to the second act…

We’ve watched Winnipeg flex its biceps and rise to the occasion to work on a community  project: Plant It Forward. Together, we really can make the impossible possible. Even the snow is melting. I’m biting my nails because I think we’ve actually affected the weather. Making fun of Winnipeg and stating that “Flowers before the first of Spring” might have sent us into prematurely warm (and beautiful) weather.

MAWA's Stitch n' Bitch

Regardless, we had several groups drop off some gorgeous flowers yesterday: Visions of Independence , the Girl Guides, MAWA, etc. Also our public workshop at ArtsJunktion on Saturday was a smashing success. One girl submitted the biggest flower we’ve got yet: about 4ft across. The Hope Center also had us booked every night last week for small workshops in various locations across the city.

And just in: $500 from Kleyson Group!

Now we enter the second act: A Slight State of Panic.

With just over $6000 raised and a little over 500 flowers in “the garage,” we still need you to participate! We do have some flowers promised from various groups, but we won’t count them till we see them. I expect each and every one of you to reach into your recycling bin. Tonight. Ok, maybe not tonight, but over the next week please.

And thank you.

– Mary