Daffodils

You have likely seen a profusion of daffodils lately. In yards, in spring bouquets and being sold by a group of dedicated ladies (and maybe gents) who are raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society.
The Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days began in Toronto in the 1950s. A group of Canadian Cancer Society volunteers organized a fundraising tea and decided to decorate the tables with daffodils. The bright, cheerful flowers created an atmosphere that seemed to radiate hope and faith that cancer could be beaten. Soon these gatherings came to be known as Daffodil Teas.

Jackie Brockie, a volunteer who also worked at Eaton's, supported the idea of Daffodil Teas and arranged for Lady Eaton to host a Tea in the store. Seven hundred women attended.

Another volunteer, Lane Knight, arranged for restaurants to give part of their receipts to the Society on the opening day of the residential canvass in 1956. Canadian Cancer Society volunteers were on hand at local restaurants to give patrons a daffodil when they paid for their meals as a token of appreciation. The sight of so many daffodils being carried around the city created interest. When some recipients tried to pay for the flowers or make donations, the Society quickly realized that the sale of daffodils would generate additional revenue.

Canadian Cancer Society volunteer Fran Shannon headed the team that planned the sale of daffodils on the streets of Toronto the following year. An anonymous donor paid for 5,000 blooms to be flown from British Columbia where the growing season starts earlier than in Ontario.

The daffodils were an instant success, raising more than $1,200 the first year. The idea was adopted by other provinces across Canada as well as the American Cancer Society. Today the Canadian Cancer Society is the world's largest purchaser of daffodils and the growers in British Columbia must arrange their plantings to accommodate the Society's spring demand for live blooms.*

*From the Canadian Cancer Society website.*

The Scribble Group is pleased to announce that we have just launched our own version of Daffodil Days! Please visit our etsy shop to enjoy (and purchase!) daffodil inspired creative projects. More items are still to be listed. Proceeds from the sales of these items will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society.

This project was organised by Brigitte, bnazar, and these gorgeous bangle bracelets are her contribution to the project. They are inspired by the spring green and sunny yellow of the daffodils.