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Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 12:12 PM EDT Mar 30, 2020
Flower Girl Design Studio in Darboy is one of the thousands of small businesses in the state that closed shops during the coronavirus outbreak.
Owner Michelle Northey can still do local delivery orders, but it hasn’t been easy.
The shop previously had four employees. Now it’s just Northey.
“I don’t feel ‘essential’ as a florist, yet I know how important it is to be loved and to be surrounded by living, beautiful things,” she said.
“I’m seriously going day-to-day as to whether or when I’ll do no-contact deliveries,” she said. “It’s health versus money and economy. I choose health and safety for everyone in a heartbeat.”
She keeps her followers informed daily on Facebook.
Last Tuesday, she surprised them by announcing she was giving away tulips that arrived on a truck that day.
“Giving flowers away outside my shop was meant to spread love and hope and beauty at a time when some may be feeling lonely and stressed and afraid,” she said.
“Many who came on Tuesday left money. So I took that money and ordered more for the next day so we could do it again. But as a result of the ‘safer at home’ announcement, I decided to deliver them all to our local hospitals instead.”
Contact reporter Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.
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