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BRIGHAM CITY— Brigham City business owner Kyle Kanno has found a way to honor the memory of a loved one while making some elderly strangers feel a little less lonely through the simple gesture of giving flowers.
The flowers go towards what's called the Forget Me Not program which currently serves several assisted living centers in Brigham City. The program takes a few boxes of vases and some basic arranging from the workers at Afton's Floral.
"We go through about 200 flowers a week." Kanno said. "Afton's was named after my grandmother, Afton Darnell. She was a resident of a local nursing home."
Kanno said he visited Afton a lot, but noticed that not everyone was so lucky so six months ago he started the program.
"Flowers have always been associated with good will, or love, or sympathy," Kanno said. "There's a lot of emotion tied up behind flowers."
Kanno said the idea behind the flowers was simple — to make sure no one feels forgotten, and they at least get maybe one more visitor each week.
Blossoms that are a bit older and might otherwise be thrown away get put to a good use in the program. Garrett Rasband makes flower deliveries every day, but he said these ones are different.
"I definitely take more time with them," Rasband said. "It's definitely a 'Here's these for the week,' and I think it's kind of a little bit more caring. Service makes people feel happy, so it's kind of a win-win all around."
The program helps people like Ruth Adams, a resident of an assisted living center that is included in the Forget Me Not program, get a little something special to let them know even a stranger can care.
"It brightens your day to see that flower and watch it bloom," Adams said.
Kanno knows it's the kind of thing Afton would have done, which is the reason why his little flower shop carries her name.
"A way of honoring her memory, and honoring the goodwill that she did," Kanno said. "It's all about perpetuating that legacy, I think. Her legacy."
Kanno is working to expand it to help some of the elderly who are homebound.
