End of the Flower?

The cost of delivering and purchasing flowers could mean big changes to the Canadian Cancer Society’s longstanding Daffodil Day fundraiser.

The cancer society started the Daffodil Day fundraiser in Toronto in 1957. Since then, the campaign has blossomed to other cities. The flowers are shipped from British Columbia to Thunder Bay where they’re unloaded at the TbayTel warehouse.

The Cancer Society unloaded about 80,000 flowers on Monday, and more than 20 volunteers packaged the flowers and prepared them to be shipped.

Maria Cabral, fundraiser co-ordinator with the Canadian Cancer Society Thunder Bay Branch, said with the high cost to ship the flowers the Cancer Society has decided to introduce a daffodil pin. The pins are cheap to make and could eventually replace the flowers.

"The flowers are expensive to ship in from British Columbia," Cabral said. "Depending on the cost and depending on how well the pins sell, replacing the daffodils may be something that we look at. I think people understand with the economy and the cost, in order for us to be a fundraiser we have to keep costs down. If that’s the way we have to move forward then we`ll just have to move forward with the pins."

The pins are purchased through donations, so someone could give anywhere from $1 to $20. The pins would be a daffodil, the cancer society’s symbol for courage and strength.
But no matter what happens there will always be a Daffodil Day, she said.

The local chapter of the Cancer Society hopes to raise $40,000 through this year’s campaign. All the money raised goes toward cancer research and patient services in Thunder Bay.

Mary Loney has been bundling flowers as a volunteer for the annual campaign for 25 years. The 80-year-old retired teacher said the thought of having Daffodil Day without the flowers worried her.

"We’re hoping it won’t be the last year,” she said.

The street sales for the Daffodil will begin on Thursday. A bunch of flowers costs $7 and a bundle of 10 flowers will be sold at $12.

For more information, visit online at www.fightback.ca.