Sending love (and flowers) to the frontline

In the week before lockdown, the Johannesburg flower market was preparing to close its doors. With events being cancelled and local florists pausing their orders, some of the most beautiful flowers were headed for the dump.

With our supplier, Alsmeer Flowers, we decided to get some of these stems to people in Joburg who deserved them most. We asked our Julep Instagram followers to nominate someone who deserved or needed a little joy. We were overwhelmed by the number of nominations and touched by the stories shared.

We were given a glimpse of the immense sacrifices being made across our city to keep us healthy, safe and at home. We were glad to be able to send out over 30 boxes of gifted flowers that day.

A few nominations for essential workers that really touched us:

• A nurse working over-time preparing her ward for COVID-19 patients.
• A new intern keeping her team’s spirits high, while being thrown into the deep-end of the pandemic.
• A senior doctor working around the clock leading her division. At the same time, she is isolating from her family to keep them safe.

For many essential workers, things have only gotten tougher over the past few weeks. We know that it’s sometimes the small things, like a box of beautiful flowers, that can make all the difference during a difficult time.

For now, we’re not doing deliveries and are awaiting the final rules from the government on when we will be able to open again. When we can make deliveries, we’re most looking forward to sharing love and gratitude across our city. We hope to make nominated boxes for essential workers a standard weekly affair.

We’re sending a huge thank you from Julep HQ, our living room for now …

This artwork is by Pamela Bentley. Pam nominated her cousin who is a doctor working at Helen Joseph. She kindly created this as a thank-you to Julep and all healthcare workers during this time. We’re so proud to share this beautiful piece.