‘Not forgotten’: Nonprofit gifts grieving widows with Valentine’s Day bouquets

CHARLOTTE — Some special deliveries are spreading love this Valentine’s Day, but it’s not your average floral delivery service.

Hundreds of grieving widows across the Carolinas received bouquets Tuesday as part of a special project Channel 9’s Anthony Kustura first reported about last year. Now, he learned it’s expanded to brighten even more lives.

Ashley Manning is the founder of the Valentine’s Day Widow Outreach project. Her south Charlotte yard is more of a production line.

“Somebody said your neighbors hate you, you know? And I’m like ‘no, they’re all here,’” Manning said.

Countless volunteers created floral arrangements and gift bags for special deliveries to widows all across the region -- from Tega Cay, to Statesville, to Raleigh. Each recipient is nominated.

On Tuesday, Molly Brown delivered the gifts to her nominee -- her mom, who became a widow 11 years ago.

“Mom started a grief group here at Sardis Presbyterian,” she said.

They snuck into her mother’s bible study for the big reveal. It was a simple act of kindness that spoke volumes and moved the women to tears.

“Our hope is that you will know you are loved and not forgotten on Valentine’s Day,” Brown said.

A year makes quite a difference. Since Kustura first reported on the project last Valentine’s Day, the Widow Outreach project has become a nonprofit organization. That means all the money Manning and her volunteers raise goes to impact even more widows.

The Widow Outreach project is serving more than 800 women this Valentine’s Day, doubling the amount from last year. And it’s not just here in the Carolinas -- at least two other states are following Manning’s idea.

Beata Stylianos is still grieving the loss of her husband more than 10 years later. She drove to Charlotte all the way from Washington, D.C. to help, and she’s working to bring the outreach project there next year.

“It’s just the smallest acts of kindness that may seem small, but there are so big,” Stylianos said. “They have this ripple effect.”

For Manning, it’s all about that ripple effect, as well as the realization that you can make a difference from your very yard.

“We were designed to love our neighbors, and if we all took better care of each other, this world would be a lot better,” Manning said.

The organization raised more than $30,000 to provide flowers and gifts this year. They’re already planning for next year’s effort to reach even more people.

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Couple has Valentine’s Day wedding in NICU alongside 1-month-old daughter (NCD)

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