Houseplants for the Homebound program to benefit CHOP Pediatric Cardiac Center
Philadelphia's Friends of FDR Park will be collecting houseplants and plant cuttings to bring some cheer to patients and families at the CHOP Pediatric Cardiac Center this coming week.
Tara Anastasi, FDR Park's landscape and volunteer manager, said they are looking for "all different types" of houseplants as well as clippings that volunteers could then plant and bring to the next dropoff as fully grown houseplants.
This collection is a volunteer effort started in 2020 to bring "a piece of the park to the people," Anastasi said. At their first collection, they received 100 plants to bring to Penn's hospice program.
Now a quarterly collection effort, Friends of FDR Park picks a different place to bring houseplants to each visit.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, they noticed how many people would come to the park to connect with nature. Volunteers started collecting houseplants to bring to hospitals, senior centers and hospice programs as a way to bring nature into their rooms.
There are many benefits of giving a patient a plant, Anastasi said.
"It brings nature and life into the room. It gives people something to take care of, provides purpose and not to mention the biological benefits of having plants close by."
If you have houseplants or cuttings to share, you can drop them off at FDR's Community Clubhouse at 1954 Pattison Avenue between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 1 through Monday, Sept. 8.
To contact Houseplants for the Homebound organizers, email info@fdrpark.org.