Snip, sniff, sell: Winnipeg retiree raising money for Harvest Manitoba with bundles of garden flowers

Erika Neumannputters around her garden most days, pruning her flowers and enlisting help from friends in her Winnipeg neighbourhood to help make the area more beautiful.

Some days she'll hand a bundle of blossoms to passersby in an effort to brighten their day and give them something sweet to smell, but this monththe retired nurse is selling them for a good cause.

Neumann isharnessing the power of her community to raise money for local food banks with beautiful hand-picked flowers.

"We had [a flower sale]last week, it was so amazing. The neighbours came and we sold $300," she said.

The proceeds of her own flowers, plus those from neighbouring gardens, are going to Harvest Manitoba, formerly known as Winnipeg Harvest.

Other neighbours are helping by donating vases for the bouquets, and water from their rain barrels.

Recently Neumannwas walking in the neighbourhood and came across a beautiful garden and thought to herself that they might make great additions to the bouquets.

"She's got so many. God bless her for sharing I don't even know her name," Neumann said.

Sharing the bounty

Neumann has only lived in Wolseley a year now, but nearly everyone seems to know her.

"Erika is the best neighbour," says Wanda Guenther. "She's going to bring everybody together here.She gardens all the time and she gets anyone's help that walks by and we're all happy to provide it."

Fellow neighbour Wayne Guenther says he sometimes expects a one- or two-minute interaction with Neumann, but it ends up taking 15 to 20.

"She always has a little chore for us to do, like digging a hole to put one of her plants in or moving one of her plants in another place," he said.

Neumann says she learned the importance of giving from her mother growing up in South America.

"When we had something she says, 'Go bring this down there.' I remember doing that. It wasn't flowers, it was vegetables or fruit, papaya and stuff like that," she recalled.

"Not everybody has a garden for flowers, so it's nice to share them."

Winnipeg retiree raising money for Harvest Manitoba with bundles of garden flowers

2 years ago

Duration 2:02

People in Wolseley are cutting stems and making bouquets, all part of a grassroots fundraiser to raise money for Harvest Manitoba.