Flowers for families: Presbyterian’s annual Daffodil Days raises money for hospice care

Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation is hosting its annual Daffodil Days fundraiser to support Robert Wertheim Hospice House, which aims to provide end-of-life care in a comfortable and homelike setting.

Presbyterian for the past 42 years has sold bouquets of daffodils to benefit their hospice services. Robert Wertheim Hospice House opened in 2022 on Presbyterian’s Pan American campus, and provides 10 rooms to care for people unable to receive end-of-life care at home, said Presbyterian spokesperson Robert Salas.

The hospice house’s design combines clinical needs — such as wider hallways for gurneys and tucked away nurse stations — with a homey environment, Salas said. Each room is private and has its own attached patio to provide patients with easy access to the outdoors.

This design allows staff to accommodate a patient’s final requests. For one man, an avid outdoorsman, his dying request was to pass on in nature, said Hospice Nursing Manager Brittney Tull. Staff wheeled the man outside onto his patio, Tull said, where he took his final breaths in the fresh air.

“Even during these sad moments, seeing the warmth families share with each other motivates me to provide the utmost care for their loved ones,” Tull said.

The foundation raised $230,000 in 2024 and hopes to surpass that this year, said Presbyterian’s Annual Giving Vice President Jessica Wojda. Presbyterian has raised $15,000 in the two weeks since it opened preorders.

Online preorders are available now through March 3. There are a variety of bouquets ranging from $8 to $35 that can be delivered or picked up in person at pop-up shops on March 28. Purchasers can also choose to send their flowers to hospital staff or patients at Presbyterian.

Presbyterian orders 100,000 flowers each year, Wojda said, which 250 volunteers help to assemble and mail.

“We get to stand in a warehouse full of flowers and it smells amazing,” Wojda said.

To order flowers or volunteer for Daffodil Days, visit Presbyterian’s website at daffodildays.phs.org.