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Flower Box teams with Minot Relay for Life

Ciara Parizek/MDN From left to right, Lori Francis, Tammy Holen, Cindy Obenchain and Kim Hunt gathered at the Flower Box on Tuesday afternoon for a check presentation.

The Flower Box teamed up with the Minot Relay for Life to raise money by selling daffodils.

Laurie Odden with the American Cancer Society said that in the month orders were being taken, they raised $10,580.

On Tuesday afternoon, Tammy Holen, the owner of the Flower Box, presented the check to Cindy Obenchain, treasurer of Minot Relay for Life.

The American Cancer Society used to sell daffodils every year to raise money. However, flower sales occurred only locally this year. “Everyone loves daffodils,” Relay for Life member Kim Hunt said. “It goes to a good cause,” Holen added.

Daffodils are beautiful flowers that are generally associated with spring, making the time to order the best opportunity to sell them.

Orders started in the beginning of February and ended in the first part of March. They started early in the year to make sure they could get the amount of flowers needed. Toward the middle of March, the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard, causing concerns for the orders.

“We didn’t know if the crop would be ready, or if the flowers would be cut and shipped on time,” Holen said.

The daffodils this year came from the Netherlands. The volunteers with Minot Relay for Life, including Hunt and Lori Francis, began delivering them. Individuals bought daffodils for themselves and as gifts for others. Holen said a business in Minot bought flowers for all of its staff, donating $150 to the cause.

Hunt and Holen mentioned that they used to go to grocery stores, like Marketplace Foods, Cashwise and Walmart, to buy daffodils, but COVID-19 put a stop to that this year. “It was kind of hairy,” Holen said of the ordering and delivering process.

Despite the difficulties and uncertainty, The Flower Box and Relay for Life raised a considerable amount of money to help people with cancer get treatment and recover.

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