Events

Easter is just around the corner, and Ave Maria Garden had the heart-filling pleasure of supporting the Hamilton High Street Residence once again by hosting a floral workshop overflowing with color and joy. We began the session with a meaningful quiz led by our facilitator, Vivian, who asked a simple yet profound question: “What are we celebrating for Easter?” The answer, at its core, is all about Love. We gathered to honor the sacrifice of God’s only Son, Jesus, who took up our sins and rose again, bringing us the eternal hope of resurrection.

Adding to the warmth of the day was the wonderful involvement of the children, who helped bridge the generations through small acts of kindness. The kids handwritten heartfelt greeting messages in Chinese and folded them into delicate origami birds, hiding them inside large golden Easter eggs as a special surprise for each senior. We wish you all a blessed Easter season filled with the peace and promise of His eternal love.

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What a beautiful gathering we shared with the seniors at the Simon K.Y. Lee Residence in Chinatown – a prelude to celebrate Easter with flowers! We kicked off with cheerful greetings and a fun little quiz about the meaning of Easter – renewal, hope, and new life. The room quickly filled with excitement as everyone chose their favourite flowers, foliage, and fillers to create their own Easter baskets.

A huge thank you to our volunteers Anny, Helen, Jane, Julie, and Wendy. Your patience and gentle guidance helped each senior bring their vision to life. You truly made their day.

As we watched their smiles grow with every bloom placed, we were reminded why we do this work. Easter calls us to bring light, renewal, and love wherever we go. Thank God for giving us the gifts, talents, and resources to help our seniors stay active, creative, and connected.

God is good, all the time… and all the time, God is good.

We were incredibly thankful to celebrate Chinese New Year with floral cultural activities at Maples Residence and Collingwood Neighbourhood House. Flowers served as a beautiful medium for cultural exchange, spreading joy, hope, and love throughout the community. It was particularly meaningful to see participants from various backgrounds, including many Caucasian families, embracing Chinese New Year traditions and crafting unique floral pieces to take home as blessings.

We firmly believe that when we create with love, God’s grace quietly works among us, sowing seeds of unity and understanding across cultures. May these small acts of beauty blossom into deeper friendships and stronger communities.

If you’re interested in joining our future cultural floral workshops or bringing one to your community, feel free to message us for more information!

We are excited to share that our Chinese New Year flower workshop, held on February 12, was a wonderful success! A heartfelt thank you to all the incredible volunteers who made this event truly special!

A special mention goes to those who crafted lovely mini Chinese couplets, adding a personal touch to our decorations. We showcased vibrant chrysanthemums in various colors, beautifully blended with gold and red artificial flowers. Our creations were further enhanced with origami fans and delightful printed Chinese couplet stickers.

This stunning design is not only a visual delight but also conveys a powerful message of abundance, blessings, and prosperity as we welcome the Chinese New Year. May everyone who received these joyful tokens feel the love and hope they symbolize, sharing it with their families and loved ones.

Let’s continue to carry this spirit of generosity and joy throughout the year!

Blessings to all!

#AveMariaGarden#FaithInBloom#FlowerMinistry#ServingWithLove#GratefulHearts #CommunityInChrist #VolunteersWithJoy

“Where flowers bloom, joy quietly takes root.”

We had such a delightful afternoon with the lovely residents at The Maples! Together, we learned how to recycle Mason jars into beautiful vases — creating a taped grid to anchor each stem at just the right angle for their one-of-a-kind floral designs.

With a mix of textured greens and colorful blooms, every arrangement turned out wonderfully unique — just like the hands and hearts that created them.

We’re deeply thankful to our amazing volunteers, who generously offered their time and talents to serve our seniors with patience, joy, and love. Your kindness truly brings faith to life.

In these small moments of creativity and connection, we are reminded that beauty, like faith, grows when it’s shared.

May our Blessed Mother continue to inspire us to bring peace, hope, and love wherever we serve.

This day, Ave Maria Garden was blessed to conclude our Christmas floral workshop at Austin Harris Residence, graciously led by our Vivian, and shared with the wonderful seniors as we prepared our hearts for this holy season. In a spirit of creativity, sustainability, and care, we transformed humble wine bottles into beautiful vessels of light. Inside each bottle, we placed delicate twinkling wire lights, symbolizing hope shining gently in the darkness. Each arrangement was lovingly adorned with fresh pine leaves, vibrant carnations, and softly sprayed baby’s breath. To awaken the senses and memories, we added fragrant lemon slices and aromatic cinnamon sticks, finishing each piece with festive ribbons to celebrate the joy of Christmas.

We were deeply touched by our intergenerational volunteer team, including two 12-year-olds and one 10-year-old, serving alongside our other dedicated women volunteers, Vicky and Susan. Their gentle patience, joyful service, and willingness to walk alongside our seniors beautifully reflected Ave Maria Garden’s mission, forming young hearts in compassion while allowing volunteers to grow in service, leadership, and faith lived out through action.

This gathering reminded us that ministry is found in simple acts, a shared table, a listening ear, a helping hand. Christmas comes alive not only through decorations, but through love given and received across generations.

Workshops take planning and resources, but spending time with our buddies is always the biggest reward. Watching them twist wires, trim flowers, and create their own design with patience and creativity reminds us why we do this.

God is good, always guiding us to do good together. 🌿💕 Grateful for you all who keep growing and learning how to make each workshop fun and meaningful.

Grateful to get our creative hands working again, this time doing over a hundred centerpieces with palm weaved for the Archbishop’s Dinner. Palm Leaf Hand-Weave with Wine-Red Bloom – Crafted by volunteers, symbolizing collective effort in building the Church. This year’s fundraising will support and empower women facing adversity, and we are so blessed to contribute in our small way.

Thank you to all the volunteers involved. Witnessing ourselves work hand in hand, helping each other under time and resource pressure, reminded us how important it is to lift one another up with respect in every step. That’s the spirit of Ave Maria Garden. 🌸🥰

Big thanks to everyone for your effort and love. May the Lord and Our Blessed Mother continue to bless our team. 🌸

We had such a heartwarming Thanksgiving workshop, creating pumpkin centerpieces filled with fresh flowers, creativity, and lots of laughter. Pumpkins may be simple, but in the hands of our buddies and volunteers, they became little baskets of beauty and gratitude.

Thank you to everyone who joined, shared your joy, and helped lift one another up. Moments like this remind us how blessed we are to create, to serve, and to be together. Happy Thanksgiving, and may God continue to guide our hands and hearts. 🌿🧡

We had a beautiful Mid-Autumn workshop, creating lanterns with flashlights and fresh flowers, a little mix of tradition, creativity, and festive joy. Watching everyone design their own glowing lanterns reminded us how light and beauty always bring people together.

Thank you to all our buddies and volunteers for your laughter, teamwork, and generous hearts. What a blessing to celebrate this season of reunion and gratitude together. May God continue to guide our hands and brighten our path. 🏮🌸

Another beautiful workshop for Maples, and this time was a little extra special — we built two designs at once, all centered around the beauty of community!

As Maples has been invited again to join our upcoming Floral Exhibition, their group design this year carries the theme: “Living with Joy, Inspiring with Love.” Residents worked together to create a stunning frame decorated with white and blue flowers, symbolizing purity and harmony. Each participant added their own heartfelt, encouraging note on small cards, inspiring one another with words of love and support.

Alongside this, everyone created their own individual design, drawing inspiration from the Mid-Autumn Festival — a Chinese tradition celebrating reunion under the full moon, which this year happens just one week before Thanksgiving. Using hoops lined with delicate LED string lights, we transformed them into glowing “full moons” adorned with dried flowers. The most magical touch? We walked through with them, step-by-step, to craft a graceful angel with dried florals and twisted wire, standing tall on top of the moon — a powerful symbol that they, too, are like angels, continuing to inspire, shine, and spread love and joy throughout the community.

It was a day of creativity, culture, and connection — and a reminder that flowers can carry powerful messages of hope and unity.

Want to partner with us for more meaningful activities?

Looking for a team-building project that brings joy while giving back?

Text us to join — let’s create beauty together, with fun and impact!

As our floral exhibition at St. St. Mary’s Parish – Vancouver finished last week, our hearts are overflowing with gratitude and joy.

To all our visitors, parishioners, and friends who came to see our displays — thank you for taking the time to join us, to listen, and to feel the faith behind every flower. Your presence and support truly made these days meaningful and full of blessings.

This exhibition was not just about flowers; it was about Hope. Through the participation of different ministries, organizations, and volunteers — each offering their unique wisdom, gifts, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit — we witnessed how God works so beautifully through every person. It was deeply touching to see everyone come together with one heart, serving and creating something that reflects God’s love and glory.

Flowers are an international language that everyone can understand. No matter our age, background, or culture, we can all see in them the beauty of God’s creation. The joy and harmony shared among everyone who contributed and visited reminded us that together, we can continue to spread hope and light to others.

We look forward to more opportunities to collaborate with different people and groups, so that through beauty, faith, and service, we may continue to touch lives and bring God’s message of hope to the world.

#avemariagarden#thanksgiving

What an Amazing Sunday at St. Mary’s!

We are so excited about the beautiful turnout for our very first Sunday Coffee Morning with floral activities! Families came with children, seniors joined with friends, and everyone enjoyed coffee, tea, and snacks while creating something beautiful with flowers. It was such a joy to see so many sweet moments, kids laughing as they crafted, husbands making bouquets to surprise their wives, and our volunteers going the extra mile to ensure that seniors and those with mobility challenges could also take home something special.

Flowers truly are a gift for all ages and all hearts. We cannot thank our incredible volunteers enough. While we are experienced in hosting floral workshops, serving coffee and refreshments was a new adventure for us and involved so much work behind the scenes, from setup to hospitality, engaging with visitors, and even the post-event cleanup. You all stepped out of your comfort zones and made this day a blessing for so many. Our next Sunday Coffee Morning will be on Sept 21 (the 3rd Sunday), from 10:30 AM to 1 PM (yes, we will be there at 1030) at St. Mary’s. Mark your calendars, we can’t wait to see you there! 💛 .Support our mission and help us continue this work: https://avemariagarden.ca/giving/

God Bless.

We are again going to Chinatown to host our flower workshop for our lovely buddies at the care homes. This time our theme is “Togetherness.”

We used two stalks of palm leaves to form flowing lines that resemble two hands coming together in unity.

It symbolizes collaboration, combined strength, and the beauty of gathering as one.

Through this floral expression, we pray that our community, not just in Chinatown or among seniors, but all people may experience unity, peace, and healing.

May hearts come together with understanding and love, so that no one feels left out or forgotten.

Let this small act of creation remind us of the greater harmony we’re called to build together.

What a lovely and meaningful visit to SUCCESS Adult Day Care and Assisted Living! Using simple palm leaves, we explored the traditional art of weaving, and with a little twist, we turned it into a beautiful headpiece, almost like a floral halo 👑. Just a few fresh flower stems, gently placed in a vase, completely uplifted the space and brought smiles all around. Weaving takes patience. Flipping each strip up and down reminded us of our own life journeys, filled with turns, moments of pause, and steady progress. But it’s that very patience that shapes something truly beautiful and meaningful. 🌺 To all the wonderful elders we met, we wish you peace, love, and health. May your days be as radiant as the flower crowns we made — you are each a queen in your own way. 💐 Stay blooming and joyful always! God Loves You All! #AveMariaGarden #FloralMission #ElderLove #WeavingMemories #BloomWithGrace #CommunityCare

There are days that gently remind us what truly matters in life – connection, joy, and the quiet beauty of being present with one another. Our floral workshop at Three Links Care Centre was one of those days. As we stepped into this senior residence, arms full of blooms, we were met with curious smiles, and a sense of openness that only grows from lives deeply lived. Some residents shared stories of their own gardens, how they used to clip flowers from their backyard and arrange them with love. Watching them pick up a stem again, this time with our support, was like watching memories come alive. For others, it was their very first-time arranging flowers. Yet, with each guided step, rooted in simple floral theory and gentle encouragement, we saw transformation. Stems became stories, and hands that hesitated at first soon moved with growing confidence. The smiles, the quiet “wow” moments, the spark in their eyes, it was a kind of joy that words rarely capture. One gentleman even popped in, drawn by curiosity. Before long, he was fully engaged, sharing laughter and creativity with everyone else. And in a truly touching moment, one resident who can speak French, and to our delight, our wonderful volunteer Minh was able to respond in French as well. Their conversation flowed so naturally, and the connection between them lit up the room. It was a simple exchange, yet profoundly moving. This workshop reminded us again that flower arranging is not just an art — it’s a way of bringing people together, of honoring stories, of sparking imagination with whatever materials we have. It’s about support, surprise, and rediscovering beauty through one another’s company. These shared moments uplift not just the individuals, but the entire space, and perhaps even a little beyond. We hope you can feel that same peace and joy in the photos we’ve shared. Thank you to everyone who made this day possible. May God bless each heart that bloomed today, and may these memories continue to blossom long. 💐

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Simon K.Y. Lee Long Term Care Home – Monthly Flower Gathering

It was truly a blessing to return to our once-a-month flower gathering with our beloved elder friends. This Easter workshop was filled with beauty, peace, and quiet joy, as we came together to reflect on the season of renewal and resurrection.

We upcycled the fresh carnations from last month’s session and gently turned them into preserved dried flowers—each bloom retaining its soft color and charm. This simple act is a beautiful reminder that, like these flowers, our faith, hope, and love can be lovingly preserved to guide us through life’s changing seasons, just as Jesus’ resurrection reminds us of His eternal promise.

Each floral arrangement carried layers of symbolic meaning:

Preserved Dried Carnations – Representing enduring love and faith, a gentle symbol of what we hold close and carry forward in life.

Easter Egg – A classic symbol of new life. Just as a chick breaks through its shell to begin its journey, we are reminded of fresh beginnings and inner strength as we grow and live each day.

LED String Lights – Bringing a soft, comforting glow—a symbol of hope and Christ’s light. But they also serve a practical purpose: seniors can use these lights to gently illuminate their rooms at night or help them find items like glasses or keychains more easily.

We are especially grateful for our amazing volunteers, both young and old, who joined hearts and hands to support this gathering. Their gentle voices, thoughtful conversations, and warm guidance created a deeply peaceful and joyful atmosphere. With relaxing music in the background, the space felt wrapped in care, community, and Easter spirit.

Thank you to everyone who made this gathering so meaningful.

Together, we’re not just arranging flowers—we’re nurturing hope, sharing light, and building lasting connections in our community.

What a beautiful, sunny day it was—perfectly reflecting the spirit of Easter and the joy of new beginnings!

We were so blessed to host our Easter Flower Basket Workshop for the lovely residents of Maple Residence. The room was filled with laughter, creativity, and heartwarming conversations as we crafted stunning floral baskets in all shapes—heart-shaped, handbag, oval… each one a reflection of our seniors’ love and imagination.

I felt like a magician today, teaching our beautiful Maples how to create big, cheerful bows. Just a twist of technique and a whole lot of joy.

We managed to pick up some palm leaves from St. Monica’s Parish so we taught them how to make palm crosses, with no cutting, just careful folding and meaning. Some seniors asked for extra pieces to give their caregivers! So simple, yet so meaningful…

Of course, what’s Easter without eggs? The seniors had so much fun adding tiny chicky eggs to their baskets—tucking them between blooms with pride and giggles.

Easter is a season of hope, and today we truly lived it. We thank God for the grace and goodness, so we can all journey toward new life.

To everyone reading—may your Easter be filled with love, light, and blossoms of hope. Two more Easter workshops to go! Hip Hip Hurray!

We’ve wrapped up another beautiful and meaningful flower workshop at Austin Harris to celebrate the upcoming Easter! 🐣🌼

What’s better than giving each buddy an Easter basket? Giving them the joy of creating one — complete with a floral arrangement in the front, a ribbon tied with love on the back, and topped with a festive Easter egg filled with jelly beans! 🍬💐

These special baskets not only brighten up the celebration but also double as a lovely holder for their personal treasures. It’s a fun and thoughtful way to explore “designing out of the box”—helping everyone build patience, hand-eye coordination, and creativity while sharing laughs and good times together. 💕🎨

A huge thank you to our wonderful volunteer leader Vivian, who came with her whole family to support today’s event — your love and dedication mean the world! 🌟

And a warm welcome to our new volunteers, Raymond and Cindy! We hope you enjoyed your first experience with us and will continue to bring your hearts and hands to serve the community in this joyful way. 💖

Wishing everyone a hopeful and happy Easter! 🐰🕊️

This weekend, our elderly buddies at Simon KY Lee Centre explored the L-Design in our floral workshop! The L-Design is a simple yet elegant arrangement that teaches the fundamentals of floral artistry—balance, texture, and composition. Through this hands-on experience, our buddies learned how to work with different textures of flowers and foliage, understanding how soft petals contrast beautifully with structured greenery to create a visually harmonious display. They also practiced eye and hand coordination, carefully positioning each bloom to achieve balance and symmetry in their designs. Beyond the artistry, working with fresh flowers brings many benefits—the vibrant colors uplift the spirit, the soothing scents promote relaxation, and the creative process fosters mindfulness. Seeing their arrangements come to life filled the room with smiles and a deep sense of accomplishment. A heartfelt thank you to our amazing volunteers who dedicated their weekend to guiding and encouraging our seniors. Your kindness and patience made this workshop extra special! 💖 Let’s continue to bloom together, one flower at a time! 🌸🌿 #SimonKYLeeCentre #FloralWorkshop #LDesign #CreativityInBloom #CommunityLove #FloralTherapy #VolunteersMakeADifference #AveMariaGardenCanada

We had the privilege of hosting three heartfelt Christmas workshops at Chinatown! Harmony House, Chieng’s Adult Day Care Centre, as well as Simon KY Lee Residence. These workshops were more than just creative sessions—they were moments of connection, care, and compassion that brought light to the lives of our beloved seniors. Not only did they have the opportunity to handmake their own wreaths to celebrate Christmas, but as volunteers, we also learned valuable lessons about how art can be transformed into meaningful community work.

Our Christmas wreath event at Austin Harris Senior Residence was a heartwarming celebration of creativity, connection, and hope. Seeing so many happy faces return each month to explore their creativity brings us endless joy!

We started with a fun quiz time:*Why do people put up Christmas wreaths? Why are wreaths round instead of other shapes? Answer: Eternity!

That’s right! We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to bring us eternal life and love. The round shape symbolizes eternity—just like wedding rings exchanged in marriage, signifying eternal love.

To guide our elders in creating their wreaths, we brought along **dried orange and lemon slices, pinecones, and cinnamon sticks**—each with a special meaning.

– Sweet and sour moments in life.

– Pinecones: The rocky, challenging times.

– Cinnamon: The spicy adventures that make life exciting.

Coupled with fresh evergreens, these elements reflect the rich textures of life. Only with these diverse experiences can life become truly complete and filled with wisdom.

What a joy and blessing it was to create bridal bouquets and boutonnieres for the Mass Wedding at St. Mary’s Parish! Witnessing 19 couples celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony was truly heartwarming—what a beautiful reminder of love and faith.

A heartfelt thank you to all our incredible volunteers! Your hard work, dedication, and teamwork made this possible. Every ribbon tied, flower arranged, and moment shared was filled with grace and joy.

May God bless everyone who was part of this special day. Let’s cherish every opportunity to learn, grow, and serve together as one community. The time we spend creating beauty is as precious as the flowers we arrange, and together, we can always strive for the best.

Onward to more joyful moments with Ave Maria Garden!

Praise God for the blessings of community and kindness! It’s amazing how acts of love, big or small, can bring warmth to those around us. Thanks to our wonderful neighbors, who harvested flowers and greenery from their gardens this fall, we were able to prepare over 30 Thanksgiving gifts sent out to different seniors in the community. A random act of kindness on this special day!

We also want to thank everyone who gave us beautiful cards. Handwritten cards carry such a personal touch, a perfect way to spread love and encouragement—especially for seniors who may not read emails or texts often. I know God works through these small gestures, bringing joy in unexpected ways.

We’re truly grateful to be part of such a loving, generous community. With God’s help, let’s continue to cherish these simple, meaningful moments—because they are the ones that matter most.

Wishing you all a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving! Sending big hugs and lots of love.

We’ve wrapped up our Thanksgiving flower workshops at several senior residences, and what a heartwarming experience it’s been! 💐 Huge thanks to some of our great supporters for their generous harvest from their yards—your kindness helped us spread joy while the blooms were still fresh and beautiful. The seniors were absolutely thrilled! 🌿 They couldn’t believe how we transformed raw, unripe figs (that wouldn’t ripen due to the weather) into charming little adornments—every three figs becoming a unique touch in their arrangements. With lush greenery, delicate white filler flowers, and vibrant fuchsia blooms, their creations radiated warmth and beauty. Some moments were truly unforgettable—one senior, overcome with her mobility issue, even tried to stand up to give us hugs. 💕 It was a humbling reminder of how small acts of love can mean the world. We’ve always believed that flowers hold a special power to uplift our spirits. 🌸 May our regular outreach continue to bloom like the beauty of nature, spreading positivity and joy to everyone we touch. Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving filled with love and gratitude! 🍂 

🌸 What an incredible weekend we had at the ‘Blossom of Hope’ flower exhibition! 🌸

This event was more than just a showcase of beautiful floral designs; it was a celebration of community, creativity, and connection. We were overjoyed to see so many visitors from all walks of life—children, youth, young adults, and seniors—all coming together to appreciate the beauty of flowers. It was a reminder that flowers truly are a universal language, bringing joy, happiness, and a sense of hope to everyone who experiences them.

A heartfelt thank you to the seniors from Hamilton High Street Residence, Maple Residence, Harmony House, Chieng’s Adult Day Care Centre by SUCCESS, Marpole Oakridge Family Place, and the Caregiver Hub by RCRG. Your participation was the heart and soul of this event. The time we spent together crafting the flower displays was filled with laughter, creativity, and moments of connection that we will treasure. Many of us tried out new creative techniques, exploring artistic expressions we hadn’t before, and the results were nothing short of inspiring. You all brought so much warmth and wisdom to the exhibition, making it a truly special experience.

Very Grateful for the first day of “Blossom of Hope” Flower Exhibition** at Canadian Martyrs Catholic Church! The beauty and creativity on display were truly inspiring, with so many visitors, families, and children joining us this day. From the vibrant floral designs contributed by various parishes, charities, and nonprofits, to the warm support from our dedicated Ave Maria Garden volunteers, it was a day filled with joy and community spirit.

Tomorrow is the **final day** of this beautiful exhibition, so don’t miss your chance to come by and say hello to our stunning floral displays before they are repurposed.

Date:* August 25 (Sun)

Time: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Location: Canadian Martyrs Catholic Church – 5771 Granville Avenue, Richmond.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Thank You for Joining Us at the Faith & Career Seminar!

What an incredible evening we had at the “From Belief to Business: Navigating Faith in Your Career” seminar! A heartfelt thank you to Deacon Wilfred Victoria for being our guest speaker, and thank Fr. Anthony Ho from Canadian Martyrs Catholic Church for supporting our event, and of course for everyone who attended, shared, and connected with us.

Deacon Wilfred Victoria delivered an inspiring talk that resonated with so many of us, providing invaluable insights on how to live out our faith in both our professional and personal lives. The discussions that followed were filled with warmth, wisdom, and inspiration on how we can navigate and practice our faith with our own passion! The hall was filled with laughter and positivity.

A special highlight of the evening was the exclusive preview of our first-ever flower exhibition – Blossom of Hope! With over 50 hope-inspired floral displays created by various parishes, nonprofits, charities, many are our beloved seniors from the communities, the exhibition beautifully showcased the spirit of community and creativity that we, Ave Maria Garden, holds dear in heart.

We hope everyone left feeling encouraged, uplifted, and more connected to their faith. Stay tuned for more photos from the Flower exhibition.

Praise be to the Almighty! 🙏 With the strength and guidance bestowed upon us by our gracious God, we’ve successfully organized an unforgettable team-building event for all teachers and staff at St. Francis Xavier School – through “FLOWERS”! 🌺 The feedback has blown us away! A heartfelt thank you to all participants and volunteers! 🙌 Many think arranging flowers is a quiet activity for well-being, but today we proved otherwise! We witnessed excitement, creativity, resilience, and a spirit of togetherness in every corner. 💐 Staff were divided into groups, each assigned a special floral design to build together. And we don’t just have flowers. We want them to build their faith into the design as well. So, we brought along a variety of beautiful faith items like Mother Mary statues, Rosary, Angels, Prayer Card etc. Look at the beautiful designs! They were breathtaking, as each creation came to life before our eyes infused with meaning and love! ❤️ The floral presentation sharing by each group was inspiring beyond words. One group named their design as “Touching Hearts in the Spirit” – their tripod-look design is interpreted as the importance of having Holy Trinity as our foundation of love, so much so the Holy Spirit touching the hearts of our little ones under our care. Another group shared their design as “The Heart of the Wedding at Cana” – reminding us of the unconditional love of God as He helps support us in many miraculous ways.  

We had an incredible time with the wonderful seniors from Maple Residence today, creating a special flower display ready to go to our Flower Exhibition called “Blossom of Hope”. Our focus was on “Upcycling”—breathing new life into scrapped flower stems, transforming them into something even more beautiful than before.

Starting with just a few stems, we explored the art of wire twisting to secure them together. What began as a simple puzzle evolved into something truly remarkable—a 3D structure, crafted piece by piece by each senior. When we combined these individual creations, an architectural design emerged, reflecting our shared creativity. By weaving flowers into the structure, we watched as a unique floral masterpiece blossomed before our eyes. This experience beautifully captured the essence of hope—showing us that even from what seems discarded, something extraordinary can be created.

Many times when we do service at Ave Maria Garden, flowers are just a tool. What truly matters is encouraging people to come together, to spend time talking with each other, even if it’s just small talk—it brightens our day. Having flowers adds something new and interesting to draw us together. I was especially touched to see when our volunteer, Lucenda, who just shared some casual conversation about family names with a senior and that turned into a meaningful connection. It’s like magic, creating moments that hook us together, finding common ground in the simplest of things.

Adding to the joy, a thoughtful youth volunteer found another way to cheer our seniors—she made a heart-shaped crochet for each participant. How sweet!