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Community Corner

Northwestern College Continues Commencement Partnership with Flowers for Dreams

CHICAGO, IL – A time-tested staple at college graduations across the country - congratulatory flowers and roses - have long accompanied caps, gowns, and diplomas at commencement day festivities. Continuing its partnership with Flowers for Dreams, Northwestern College had this innovative floral service once again stage its flowers and sell floral bouquets at its 2014 Commencement ceremony – for a unique and worthwhile cause. For every bouquet or arrangement sold over $27, Flowers for Dreams donated a backpack – complete with a year’s worth of school supplies – to a Chicago Public School (CPS) student in need. Northwestern College finds the partnership to be a win-win for everyone involved: parents and friends are able to pre-order flowers for their graduating loved ones and pick them up at the ceremony rather than making stops prior to the event and transporting them; it’s a one-stop shop for the College having the florist deliver the flowers for the commencement stage; and CPS students living at or below poverty benefit from the dollars spent by receiving backpacks and school supplies.

Following the June 13 ceremony, total sales enabled the Flowers for Dreams team to donate 65 backpacks to 65 CPS students living at or below poverty.  In addition, 10% of the total flower sales that day were donated to a charity of choice, with Northwestern College again selecting its own Student Assistance Fund.  With the sales generated, this year a $202 donation was made to the College’s Student Assistance Fund to help its own students in need.

This two year partnership with Northwestern College and Flowers for Dreams has resulted in a total of 137 CPS students receiving free backpacks and school supplies, while $425 was donated to Northwestern College’s Student Assistance Fund, to be dispersed as necessary to its own students in need.

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Steven Dyme, the Founder of Flowers for Dreams, applauded Northwestern College’s commitment to service and the success of the project. “The entire Northwestern College community took a chance on something new and unique last year, and as a result, approximately 140 backpacks and nearly 1,800 critical school supplies later, they will have helped about six classrooms of local students get the resources they need to compete and achieve.” Dyme noted that other Chicago area educational institutions from Loyola to DePaul, Robert Morris to North Central, have also partnered with Flowers for Dreams to offer the same floral programs at their commencements.

Flowers for Dreams and Northwestern College plan to send out an all-campus invitation to celebrate this accomplishment at the 3rd annual Build-A-Backpack Day in August.  Hosted by Flowers for Dreams and their nonprofit partner Supplies for Dreams, on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University, all supporters are encouraged to come package the backpacks which they were able to donate. People from all throughout Chicagoland will join to participate in the donation of thousands of critically stocked backpacks to thousands of low-income CPS students in need.

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To learn more about the Flowers for Dreams initiative and how to join in on the celebration for education, visit their website: www.flowersfordreams.com. There you can register your own events, set up fundraisers, and order meaningful, affordable, fresh arrangements of every variety for delivery in Chicago— starting from just $35, with free delivery in Chicago.


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