Planting Crocuses with Dublin Central Rotary

Today, Michael and I went to the Children's Sunshine Home in Foxrock to plant 2 thousand crocuses with my host rotary club in Ireland.  We joined thousands of volunteers across the British Isles as part of the "Focus on the Crocus" that Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) is spearheading.  The project works in two ways: first, the profits of the bulbs go toward eradicating polio; secondly, the bulbs may be planted in public parks, retirement homes, hospitals, and other locations where the community can enjoy them.  Fun fact: The purple crocuses themselves (specifically Ruby Giant crocuses) were selected to correspond with the purple dye dabbed on children's pinkie finger to indicate they have been immunized against polio.


The Children's Sunshine Home is for children from birth to age 18 who suffer from severe life-limiting conditions.  The home provides both medical and hospice care for children and support for their families.  Although it is partially funded by the government, it relies heavily on the support of benefactors and volunteers.  That's where we come in.  I can't think of anywhere I would have rather spent my afternoon working to make brighter. 

We arrived at 12:30 and worked until about 4:00.  We raked and cleared leaves, planted gardens, filled flower pots, and even washed the windows so the children could get a clear view of their flowers.  In all, there were 18 adults, and 2 little girls, (ages 4 and 2) helping.  The 4 year old was really inspired by the idea of making the outside beautiful for sick children and, armed with a brush and dust pan, dusted up every speck of dirt in their parking lot.  (I asked her father if I could take a photo of her working so diligently.)  By the end of the day, we had cleared the entire garden area and planted over 2,000 crocus bulbs, 100 daffodils, and several pots of pansies.  All the windows were cleaned, and there was not a speck of dust in the parking lot.

 

For more information about the Children's Sunshine Home, visit http://www.sunshinehome.ie/index.html or see the video below.