Supporting moms on the front lines one flower at a time

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How do you celebrate Mother’s Day during a pandemic?

For two locally based businesses looking to honor mothers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19, the answer was flowers.

This May, Lowe’s Companies Inc. teamed up with Metrolina Greenhouses to provide nearly 25,000 hanging flower baskets across Charlotte for Mother’s Day, with 10,000 of those going to nurses and other caregivers in the metro area.

The gift from Lowe’s ensured that Mother’s Day was not forgotten amid the hectic days of COVID-19, when so many Novant Health team members are working diligently to treat patients.

“We wanted to show our appreciation to the healthcare workers who are out there on the front lines every day, helping to combat this virus and to keep us all safe,” said Betsy Conway, director of community relations at Lowe’s. “Many healthcare workers are not able to be with their families during this time, or they’re far away from their own moms and their families. So it was delightful to see their appreciation for just a simple act of kindness.”

The gift was part of a $1 million nationwide effort Lowe’s led to distribute 100,000 flower baskets to long-term care and senior housing facilities around the country. Lowe’s partnered with Uber to deliver baskets in various markets nationwide as part of the initiative.

“Just like the situation we’re in now, it was an unprecedented effort,” Conway said. “But it was well worth the effort and time we spent to ensure we were able to bring a smile to every mother, grandmother, caregiver and healthcare worker who received one of our baskets.”

This idea to celebrate mothers in a creative way dovetailed with a desire to support local growers such as Metrolina Greenhouses, a wholesale nursery in Huntersville, North Carolina.

“Metrolina Greenhouses is a wonderful partner of ours,” Conway said. “We were thrilled that Metrolina could participate with us in this effort. It was part of our commitment to supporting small business locally. Metrolina worked directly with us to deliver to more than 70 locations in the Charlotte area.”

Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, Lowe’s has taken several steps to support its hometown and surrounding areas throughout COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, the company mobilized large product contributions of masks to Novant Health and other healthcare systems across the nation. The company also worked with local distilleries to make hand sanitizer available in bulk to support local healthcare heroes.

“We continue to look for innovative ways that we can support healthcare workers,” Conway said. “The flower baskets were a natural extension of that, and we certainly look forward to helping Novant Health provide remarkable care in the future.”