Flowers for Mom flows money to Cub Scouts
BY NIKKI ARSENEAU Correspondent May 7, 2011 8:08PM
L-r, Tyler Gillespie, Phillip Evans, and Xavier Branch members of a local scout pack, look through flowers while selling Mother's Day flowers for a fundraiser at the Flossmoor Station Brewery in Flossmor, IL on Saturday May 7, 2011 | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media
Updated: July 7, 2011 11:11PM
Moms mattered a lot more than marigolds at a flower sale to benefit Cub Scouts on Saturday in Flossmoor.
With today being Mother’s Day, there was little doubt Scouts would be targeting mom worshippers in trying to raise funds for uniforms, patches, campouts, summer camps and supplies such as boots and canteens.
“It’s hard to turn your head away from a little kid in a blue uniform,” volunteer and event organizer Mark Liszeo said in anticipation of a successful fundraiser. “At least it is for me.”
Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts from Homewood Troop 364, Homewood Pack 304 and Chicago Heights Pack 112 took turns peddling petunias, geraniums, impatiens, vegetable plants and more outside the Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery.
They are continuing the tradition of a now-defunct Cub Scout pack that sold about $12,000 worth of flowers a year for the past 10 or 15 years, Liszeo said. This year, Busy Bee Nursery in Glenwood provided the Scouts with 1,600 plants at wholesale prices, Liszeo said, meaning the Scouts get to keep from 15 percent to 20 percent of their total sales.
“They do all the selling, ordering, unloading and cleaning up,” Liszeo said of the Scouts.
11-year-old Scout Andrew Sline said he was glad to be a part of the sale.
“It feels pretty good to be helping our pack with the money, helping people get flowers they like and making them happy for Mother’s Day.” Sline said.
And the great thing about selling flowers before Mother’s Day is there’s no single demographic that makes up their customer base.
“Everybody comes to pick up flowers and then goes to Mom’s house,” Liszeo said.
Or they do what many shoppers did on Saturday and take the blossoms home to their own back yards.
“Every year, we come and buy flowers to support the Scouts and support the community. It’s great to see these young people do something positive,” said Victor Dickson, of Flossmoor.
The Scouts already had raised $4,300 during an April presale, Liszeo said. He said Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery, in addition to letting Scouts set up shop there, always is one of their best customers, spending about $800 and favoring 30 or 40 hanging baskets used to adorn the building.
Contributing: Mike Deacon
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