Attendees of an earlier Blooming Basket Fundraiser for the JDRF shop for hanging baskets, patio planters and more in the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts, Rock Island. CREDIT LINDA AND RUSS KENNEL
Brightly colored geraniums, stunning Supertunias, pops of verbena. These flowers and others soon will fill the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts in Rock Island, and they’ll do more than bring joy to whoever takes them home – they also will help raise funds for the JDRF and its diabetes research efforts. The annual Blooming […]
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Brightly colored geraniums, stunning Supertunias, pops of verbena. These flowers and others soon will fill the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts in Rock Island, and they’ll do more than bring joy to whoever takes them home – they also will help raise funds for the JDRF and its diabetes research efforts. The annual Blooming Basket Fundraiser, scheduled this year for Saturday, May 13, has become a Mother’s Day weekend plant sale staple for the Quad Cities and a reliable fundraiser for JDRF. Since 2014, volunteers Linda and Russ Kennel, of Rock Island, have funded, organized and run the plant sale with all proceeds going to the JDRF. “JDRF is a charity that is very near and dear to us,” Ms. Kennel said, adding that she had a niece who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 4 and later died of related complications at age 28. Among other relatives, she and her husband also have a grandson, now 21, who was diagnosed with diabetes at age 5. The annual Blooming Basket Fundraiser for the JDRF features these cone-shaped wicker basket planters. CREDIT LINDA AND RUSS KENNELMs. Kennel said great strides have been reached in diabetes research and treatments since her niece was diagnosed. “Things have changed much, much for the better, but there’s still no cure,” she said. While she and her husband would regularly donate toward research efforts, the couple always felt like they could be doing more. So, the Kennels started brainstorming fundraiser ideas around 2012 to further contribute to JDRF research efforts. Growing up on a farm near Iowa City, Ms. Kennel said farmers within the Amish community built greenhouses and started selling plants and flowers at an auction in the area. She and her sister, who now lives in Ames, Iowa, would meet for an auction, buy a host of plants and flowers, and divide up the purchases to share. “These are hanging baskets that you do not see around here anywhere,” Ms. Kennel said of their finds. The baskets each contain at least three types of flowers and are always very healthy and blooming. “They’re just breathtaking,” she added. As the auctions got bigger and bigger and growers brought more and more flowers, Ms. Kennel thought, “Why don’t we do flowers (for a fundraiser)? This just seems to be a no-brainer!” Giant hanging baskets feature numerous types and colors of flowers with proceeds helping JDRF. CREDIT LINDA AND RUSS KENNELSince the couple’s first sale nine years ago, they have raised more than $185,000 for the JDRF through selling plants and reaching out to area businesses for support. “Our goal this year is to surpass $200,000 total,” Ms. Kennel said. Meeting this goal will be especially rewarding for the Kennels, who will hand over the sales’ reins to other JDRF volunteers after this year’s event. The Kennels, who are retired, decided that it’s “time for us to phase out,” Ms. Kennel said, adding that the couple hoped someone would be interested in continuing it. “Russ and Linda are such a special part of the JDRF family and have made such an impact on the work we do here in the Quad Cities area. Their passion and genius to organize this event are simply amazing,” said AnnElise Walsh, executive director of the Nebraska Iowa Chapter of JDRF. “As Russ and Linda are taking a step back from this fundraiser, we want to say thank you for all of their time, talent and treasure. We are so pleased that a key group of volunteer stakeholders have stepped up to carry on the tradition, led by Amy and John Powell, who also have years of volunteer service for JDRF in the QC area,” Ms. Walsh added.
It takes a village
Once the Kennels settled on hosting a flower sale to fundraise for the JDRF, they talked with neighbors and friends for help and support. The supporters included Bill Hass of Valley Construction Company, Rock Island, who helped scout for sale locations and built hanging basket displays out of large barrels and steel rods. “We’re so appreciative of him,” Ms. Kennel said. In the sale’s first year, Ms. Kennel said she bought just over 300 baskets at auction and as well as 50 nine-inch pans of frosted sweet rolls from Golden Delight Bakery in Kalona, Iowa. She also baked and assembled homemade dog treats that she and her grandsons enjoy making together. “We were completely sold out within the first three hours,” Ms. Kennel said, adding “I was just blown away.” Fresh sweet rolls from Golden Delight Bakery in Kalona, Iowa, also will be available for purchase at the Blooming Basket Fundraiser for the JDRF on Saturday, May 13. CREDIT LINDA AND RUSS KENNELAlready, she was thinking, “I can’t wait ‘til next year.” Ever since, the sale and its proceeds have grown, with Ms. Kennel soliciting area businesses for donations to JDRF and buying up more and more hanging baskets at auction. Penske Truck Rental, Milan, stepped in to donate trucks to haul the plants, which “is a huge expense that we do not need to incur,” she said. The couple also expanded their offerings with patio planters and cone-shaped wicker basket planters in metal stands. “They are absolutely gorgeous,” Ms, Kennel said of the wicker planters which she reuses year after year. “(I’ve) never seen anything like that around here.” The annual plant sale usually begins around 8:30 a.m., she said, but people are lining up by 7:30 a.m., and everything is about half gone by 9 a.m. “Everything sells out,” she said. Ms. Kennel said she is very happy that the sale will continue after she and her husband step down. “It’s the fact that some day, there will be a breakthrough” in research and treatments for Type 1 diabetes, she said. “There will be a cure.”
IF YOU GO
The annual Blooming Basket Fundraiser for JDRF will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 13, at Advance Auto Parts, 3813 18th Ave., Rock Island. Cash and checks will be accepted. Prices vary. Early sales will begin Friday, May 12, at the Kennels’ home. For more information, contact Linda Kennel at (309) 737-7258, or [email protected].
QC area plant sales
Quad Citians will find many places to pick up their May flowers as several area nonprofits and organizations hold their annual plant sales. Here’s a look at some of the upcoming plant sales:
