Kind Hearts Bloom in Excelsior Springs

The spirit of giving is flourishing in Excelsior Springs, with heartwarming acts of generosity brightening the lives of others.

An incredible example of this can be seen from Lani O’Dell, as well as her friends Anne Haake Winter and Erin Hahn. These women have all worked together to put together flower arrangements and deliver them to local nursing homes.

O’Dell, who grows flowers in her garden, was asked by a friend who works in a nursing home if she had any extra flowers she would be interested in donating to the residents. This inspired her to make a Facebook post asking if any of her friends were interested in donating to this cause, and it led to a couple of her friends joining her. O’Dell then made a post in the Excelsior Citizen, which led to six more gardeners joining this cause, increasing their total to ten gardeners.

O’Dell collects buckets full of fresh flowers from her and her crew, then delivers them to the activities director, where they arrange them into bouquets to be delivered to the nursing homes.

“So far, it has been met with great response and everybody has said that this activity has brought a lot of joy to their faces.” ODell said. “A lot of senior citizens had gardens and they now live in an assisted facility, so they cannot have one. So this helps with that!”

So far, ODell and her team are delivering to four nursing homes, and are hoping to expand in the future. Every place they have delivered to so far has reached out wanting them to come back next month, and they are hoping they get to do this until the end of the season. If you would like to reach out and help donate to this great cause, you can email her at laniodell@gmail.com, or join the Facebook group she made called “Blooms for Seniors”.

A Random Act of Kindness Makes Dreams Come True

Beyond Lani’s blooming initiative, another heartwarming story showcases the generosity of a complete stranger. Local Mom, Brandy Wilson, brought her kids to the Walmart so that her 8 year old son could buy his 7 year old sister a toy with the money he had saved from chores. When they got there, he realized he didn’t have enough money to buy the toy he wanted and the doll his sister wanted. Disappointed by this, she expressed how badly she wanted the toy when a complete stranger overheard them and approached them.

He asked the daughter what toy she wanted, and then reached for his wallet and handed her a $100 bill and told her to “get whatever made her heart happy!” Ecstatic, she ran over to the toy aisle to show her family and even shared the money with her brother to pick out some toys for himself.

As they were checking out, they again saw the gentleman and ran up to him to thank him again and show them the toys they got, and how she shared the money with her brother so that he could get toys too. The gentleman then said, “I had no idea you had a brother here.” then pulled out his wallet and handed another $100 bill out to her brother. After insisting that they could not take it, the gentlemen told them “I do this all the time! I like seeing people happy!” The kids spent some of the money on toys, and decided to save the rest to use on their family trip.

The family was not able to get the man’s name or contact information before they left, but would love to thank him again for his incredible generosity. If anyone has any info on who this man is, please reach out to Brandy Wilson on Facebook.

These heartwarming stories are just a glimpse into the beautiful acts of kindness taking place within our Excelsior Springs. Lani O’Dell’s floral initiative and the anonymous benefactor’s extraordinary gifts are just recent examples of the compassion that defines our community.