BROKEN BOW & CALLAWAY—More than 130 nursing home residents in Broken Bow and Callaway received a special Christmas present last month thanks to some generous holiday cheer. Poinsettias/fresh flowers were delivered to Brookestone View, Off Broadway, Custer Care, Quality Senior Villages all of Broken Bow and the Callaway Good Life Center.
Broken Bow Floral & Plant Studio posted on Facebook requesting individual sponsors and the goal to bless each resident with a poinsettia or bouquet was reached in less than a week.
Poinsettias and flower arrangements (carnations, roses, daisys) were discounted by the local flower and gift shop with a $15 sponsorship requested per resident. Thirty-two individuals/businesses sponsored the flowers which were delivered to 135 residents within Custer County during the week of Christmas.
Broken Bow Floral & Plant Studio Owner Julie Hueftle told KCNI/KBBN she felt blessed to have so many individuals and businesses step up to help.
“I call it a God thing. It was just something that was just tugging at my heart for a long time,” Hueftle continued. “I had decided at the point when I found out there was 135 I thought if we don’t get anybody, I’m just going to donate because I just felt so strongly that this was something we needed to do. But as with everything in Custer County, when you put a plea out—people want to help and that’s exactly what happened and they came right away! I didn’t even have time to get a spread sheet ready! We were really pleased with that,” she said.
Among the sponsors was Nebraska State Bank (NSB) who donated their Friday blue jean money to the project. NSB employees presented a check to Broken Bow Floral & Plant Studio on Thursday, December 16 in the amount of $975.00.
“They [NSB employees] always try to do some kind of mission project. “I was completely blown away by that so it was very generous of Nebraska State Bank to do that,” Hueftle told KCNI/KBBN.
Broken Bow Floral has been a local business for more than 80 years with Julie and her husband Nolan taking over in August 2020. (Click here for the October 2020 ribbon cutting story.) In nearly a year and half of ownership, Julie Hueftle said it feels great to be able to give back to the Custer County community.
“It feels really good, it really does. I think this is something I’ve always wanted to do and I think anytime you can give back is a special time. Because we’ve gotten a lot of good people that come in here all the time and I wanted to show our appreciation,” Hueftle told KCNI/KBBN.
Quality Senior Villages posted on its Facebook page that the residents enjoyed their flowers during the week of Christmas. “Their smiles say it all and they all loved getting flowers (even the men),” the post read. It added, “We live in an amazing community!”
