Chilliwack woman delivers smiles in the form of free flowers to people who need a pick-me-up

If you’ve received a random bouquet of flowers on your doorstep recently, it may have been placed there as part of one Chilliwack woman’s desire to help lift people’s spirits.

K.J. Clare is the person behind Do Good Recklessly, a project where she delivers bouquets of flowers anonymously to people’s doorsteps in order to cheer them up.

She calls them “reckless acts of kindness.”

There’s no catch and no cost. Anyone who could use a smile can be a recipient.

“I’ve had people tell me it’s made their whole week better, it’s made them cry,” Clare said.

How it works is folks who know someone who could use a smile nominate that person by contacting Clare on Facebook at Do Good Recklessly. All they need to do is send Clare an address, and the following Sunday she will drop a newspaper-wrapped bouquet of flowers anonymously at their doorstep with a bright note attached reading “Do Good Recklessly.”

The idea came to her when she was bored one Sunday. She was thinking of a way to make people smile all while doing it safely.

“I wanted to do something good… I thought ‘I’m just going to go buy a bunch of flowers and drop them off to people,’” she said.

That first delivery of flowers went out three weeks ago to several people whom she personally knew – people who were “having a hard time, feeling down, stressed out, worn out.”

It became such a hit, she’s been doing it every Sunday since then for complete strangers. She currently gets about 50 to 60 requests a week.

As a result of sharing her project on social media, she met Danielle Breugem of The Green House Floral which is where Clare has been buying the flowers at a discounted rate.

“She’s very nice, she’s been super sweet through everything,” Clare said.

Clare spends about three hours every Saturday evening wrapping up each bouquet of flowers in newsprint, tying them with a piece of sparkly string and taping a heart-shaped note to them with the hashtag #DoGoodRecklessly handwritten on it.

With the help of three other people, they each spend another three hours driving around delivering the flowers.

“It’s great. I love it. I’ve had my own mental health problems with being quarantined and this really helps to get me out of the house and know that I’m actually making an impact on people who need it.”

To nominate someone, or to donate money towards Clare’s flower purchases, you can find her on Facebook at Do Good Recklessly.

Here are some other stories about people in our community who are giving back:

Chilliwack fitness instructor caters to senior students, moves classes outside, makes them free

Chilliwack musician releases new song to raise money for music therapy charity