This grade 9 student has jumped on a clever opportunity to bring joy and happiness to those living in residential aged care with bunches of blooms.
Xander Wallace, 15, is a Sydney High School student whose grandparents have recently moved into aged care. This move sparked the inspiration for his flower initiative as part of a voluntary Bronze Service Learning Award through his school, where students receive recognition for completing some form of community service.
Xander came up with the idea of salvaging flowers destined for the rubbish bin from supermarkets and convenience stores that would otherwise be thrown out.
With the help of his sister Amélie, the siblings spend hours a week arranging the flowers into bouquets before taking them to his local aged care facilities – to the delight of residents and staff.
Watch how Xander goes about curating blooms for local aged care residents! [Source: Facebook]
“We wanted to do something that would brighten their day and say thanks to the loving aged care community and the staff there, [who] were all very nice,” Xander told Today.
Amélie added, “It’s really beautiful to see how just a bunch of flowers can make people happy.”
Now partnered with major supermarket Woolworths and other grocery stores, Xander set up a Facebook charity page called Elderflowers and uploads videos and photos of their work with hopes to inspire other young people to start something similar and make a difference in aged care.
“We’ve had some of our friends help out in the past and that was always very nice. We want other people to learn how they can do this so they can start up in their own communities because I think it’s a great way to give back,” said Xander.
