Port Washington florist Sean Beckert’s floral arrangements are usually designed to put smiles on people’s faces at weddings and other celebrations, but now he’s working to brighten days in a new way.
For Make Someone Smile Week from July 17 to 23, Beckert will work with students from the Sands Point-based Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults to create flower arrangements for residents, local hospitals and nursing homes.
“It’s such a great experience that just makes so many people so happy,” said Beckert, whose flower shop Falconer Florist has been family-owned since 1924. “It’s a real community effort.”
Beckert has been participating in the week sponsored by flower retailer Teleflora for many years, and he said it’s one of the favorite parts of his job.
Participating florists around the country deliver about 30,000 arrangements during Make Someone Smile Week, Beckert said.
He and Helen Keller students plan to put together around four dozen arrangements with daisies in small mugs with smiles on the front and deliver them to patients at the Sands Point Center for Health and Rehabilitation, he said.
“It’s a surreal experience, because there are two sides benefiting from the event: the students from the Helen Keller National Center and the people we deliver the arrangements to,” Beckert said.
In the past, Beckert has worked with four or five students and hopes to have the same number this year, he said, adding that always very proud of the work they do.
The students have smiles on their faces while they are working and know they are helping a good cause, Beckert said.
“It’s a wonderful experience working with the students,” he said. “It’s really emotional and unbelievable and exciting for the students and me, too. It’s just such a wonderful thing.”
