Volunteers Deliver 2,501 Roses to Senior Citizens

What could be sweeter than a rose on Christmas Eve? Thanks to Roses For Our Senior Friends, senior citizens throughout North County received roses on Friday.

The charity was started in 2004 when a father and daughter began delivering roses to seniors on Christmas Eve. The following year about 25 people met to deliver roses. By 2009, the volunteer event drew more than 200 volunteers.

This year it blossomed into a large-scale effort with 346 volunteers of all ages. In fact, some volunteers had to be turned away prior to the event due to an overwhelming response to a .

Lizette Hay founded the event and runs it every year. The flowers were donated by Karen Lindsey and Dave Walker of San Marcos-based Avista Technologies Inc. Each rose was supplied and carefully de-thorned by Bob Echter at Dramm and Echter Inc.

Volunteers were given one of 25 facilities to drive to and deliver roses. About half the volunteers were new to the program and the rest had made this a Christmas Eve tradition. One volunteer, Rosemary Eshelman, was awarded a golden rose for her help in organizing the event.

Words aren't sufficient to describe the reaction of the seniors who received roses. Just watch the video and see why this event is more than just a delivery of flowers.