Smithfield teen buys flowers for every girl at school


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SMITHFIELD — Valentine's Day isn't always rosy at any age, but it can be especially tough when you're a teenager.

"All through middle school I'd never really had a valentine," Hayden Godfrey explained. "I'd seen a lot of heartbreak over the years, and I wanted to kind of devote myself to kindness each year."

An idea that started small for Godfrey, a senior at Sky View High School, eventually grew to something bigger. In past years, he bought flowers for every girl in the drama club, but knew he wanted to reach out to more people.

"I wanted to make as many people happy as possible," Godfrey said. "And this year, I was finally in a position where I could do that."

Over the past year and a half, Godfrey saved money from each paycheck. Thursday, he came to school with 900 carnations. He bought them at a discount rate: 50 cents a piece. With the help of school administrators, he was able to make a campus-wide announcement, handing them out near the end of the day.

"As we were leaving to go home, every single girl had her flower," sophomore Rachael Williams described. "It just made everyone's day, I think."

William's older sister, Myra got a flower too.

"It was way fun," she explained. "For the rest of the class, I just looked at the flower and smiled, haha. It was great."

Godfrey didn't take on this effort to nab a Valentine. He already has one.

"I think it was sweet," Lilyan Sharp, a senior said. "I've never seen something like that done before."

At the same time, Sharp says she made sure other girls didn't get the wrong idea.

"I've been kind of hanging around like, 'He's mine!' Haha. 'Sorry, he's taken!'" Sharp said, laughing. She says she has an appreciation for how important Godfrey's gesture was.

Photo: KSL-TV
Photo: KSL-TV

"I've gone through a lot of Valentine's Days, not getting something," Sharp said. "To see him be able to give every girl at school a valentine, and be able to see every single girl walk out of school with a flower is something very special."

Godfrey said he was overwhelmed with thanks on Friday. He received numerous messages over text, email and Facebook. A post on his page, describing what he had done, showing pictures of the carnations had more than 1 800 shares as of 6:30 p.m.

Godfrey says Valentine's Day is important to him, but not in the way most would imagine.

"It's more about kindness for me," Godfrey said. "Not the lovey-dovey romantic stuff. It's more about trying to better society."

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