MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee florist is planting more than just blooms across the area by donating more than 1 million dollars to local charities, hoping to help others blossom.
“Flowers, I think, innately bring beauty to every situation that they're in. I think Flowers for Dreams as a company does the same thing,” said Lindsay Leinenkugel, Design and Marketing Director, Flowers for Dreams.
Nestled in the heart of Walker’s Point, Flowers for Dreams is expanding to a new and larger space located right across the street from its former home.
The team says this new massive space gives them the ability to work with even more clients, as the company looks to expand, adding to its already burgeoning bouquet of other locations in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Detroit.
“That's been really exciting for us, and that's a new chapter that I think we're going to keep working on and keep pushing because we want this local craft flower movement to sort of spread across the Midwest,” said Leinenkugel.
For team members like Drew Hawley, getting to express himself creatively in such a supportive environment never gets old.
“I feel like my job is not a job. It's a career. It's everything I've wanted out of life and more,” said Hawley.
While one of the main focuses of Flowers for Dreams is making beautiful arrangements just like these, those with the company tell me that their philanthropy efforts are even higher on the list.
Since its creation back in 2012, the company donated 25 percent of its net profits to charities that work for residents in the cities it serves.
In 2021, the Flowers for Dreams Foundation was born. Each quarter, the foundation chooses an initiative like food insecurity, homelessness, and mental health and partners with local non-profits to create what it calls potential solutions.
This year, the company officially surpassed $1 million in donations.
“Supporting charities like that is so important to us because they’re right here and they're supporting people that you know may have come in for a workshop at some time, at some point. We're actually supporting our customers and the people that our customers know, which is really important to us,” said Leinenkugel.
As the team looks ahead to the next 10 years, they hope their work continues to plant seeds of hope and prosperity in every community they touch.
“I always say, flowers sort of sell themselves but what the difference here is that we're supporting the community that embraced us so much as a company, so we're now giving back and it feels good. I think it feels good for everybody. It feels good for, not only the people who work here, but our customers,” said Leinenkugel.
This Thursday, Flowers for Dreams is hosting its grand reopening. The party has a little something for everyone, with free food, drinks, music and of course, flowers!
For more information, click here.
