Random Acts of Flowers’ journey started with the vision of one man who saw firsthand the healing power of flowers.

Nine years ago today, our founder Larsen Jay had a near-fatal accident that changed his life forever. While repairing a building, he fell off a ladder and suffered massive injuries. He was rushed to the hospital, where he spent several weeks in a Level 1 trauma unit.

While Larsen was in the hospital, he received many flowers and saw their healing effect. As soon as he was able, he began taking his flowers to other patients, and the idea for Random Acts of Flowers was born.

A year after his accident he opened the first branch in Knoxville, Tenn. At that time, he said, “We had no idea what we were doing, but we knew we had to do it.”

Now RAF has five branches nationwide, and we’re looking forward to making our 200,000th delivery in early 2017. Thanks, Larsen, for sharing your vision — and to all the partners, volunteers, employees, donors, sponsors and recipients who’ve helped create a culture of kindness in our communities.