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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — What started as a tribute to Dolly Parton is now becoming a gift for people facing some of life’s hardest moments.
Flowers left by fans at Parton’s statue in Sevierville are being donated to Random Acts of Flowers, a Knoxville nonprofit that repurposes flowers and delivers arrangements to patients in assisted living and hospice care.
On Thursday, volunteers sorted through the flowers, trimming and rearranging them into fresh bouquets. The arrangements are headed to assisted living and hospice facilities across the community.
“Today we generously received tons and tons of flowers that were left at the Dolly statue to honor and dedicate her,” said Ally Slavick, executive director.
The nonprofit expected to create at least 220 arrangements from the flowers, but Slavick said the volume of donations meant volunteers would continue making bouquets for as long as they could.
“We’ve got so many flowers to utilize today that we’re just going to keep working until our volunteers’ arms get tired or we run out of vases,” Slavick said.
The organization has more than 300 volunteers. Among them was Theresa Asbury, who has volunteered with Random Acts of Flowers for nearly two years. Her connection to the organization’s work goes back even further.
Asbury previously worked at Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center, where she helped Random Acts of Flowers volunteers deliver arrangements to patients. She remembers watching people’s reactions when they received an unexpected bouquet.
“I got to take them around to give the flowers to the patients, and I saw what it did to them,” Asbury said. “You know, how it made them so happy”
This time, the flowers carry an added meaning.
Volunteers are including cards with the arrangements explaining that the flowers came from Dolly Parton’s fans. For Asbury, being part of that process is something she considers a privilege.
“Just to be able to see that and be a part of that is, you know, it’s a gift,” Asbury said. “It’s really a gift, so I’m very grateful for that.”
Volunteer Cheryl Gray said Parton’s connection to the organization made Thursday’s effort especially significant.
Parton had donated flowers to Random Acts of Flowers in the past. Gray says it makes the new donation from her fans feel like another connection between Parton’s legacy and the nonprofit’s mission.
“It’s special because she’s donated to Random Acts of Flowers for years that I’ve been here,” Gray said. “And so now that we have flowers from her fans means a lot.”
And as the flowers are delivered to people who may be having a difficult day, volunteers say the gesture carries forward the same spirit that brought fans to Parton’s statue in the first place: giving something away to make someone else’s life a little brighter.
Asbury said she is grateful to be part of that process.
“I am grateful that things have come full circle and that the flowers that people have been giving to her as a tribute are coming back,” Asbury said. “And we’re able to put them together and brighten somebody’s day whose day may not be very bright right now.”