Ava, Mo. man delivers flowers to frontline workers around the Ozarks

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Since this past spring, Clarke Shaw has been delivering flowers to hospitals all around the Ozarks.

Nurses at CoxHealth say the flowers bring hope to the patients and boost the spirits of frontline workers.

Shaw’s floral deliveries started last year when he picked a flower for his doctor. This small act of kindness bloomed from there.

Shaw said, “Then I was bringing a whole bunch of them to the clinic.”

He’s taking dozens of vases to CoxHealth and Mercy in Springfield.

Shaw said, “I’ve got about 30 vases. With 15 or 16 flowers in each other.”

Every other week he visits hospitals in Branson, West Plains, and Ozark Healthcare.

He wants to uplift the spirits of the frontline workers after reading about their experiences during the pandemic on Twitter.

Shaw said, “Nurses are under a lot of pressure, they’re feeling a strain, and it’s hard for them when people die as they do. It’s hard for them to cope like that. So I’m just trying to help them feel a little better.”

He handpicks the flowers the morning of the delivery. It can take several hours to fill the vases.

The flowers are on display around the COVID-19 Unit. One nurse at CoxHealth individually packages them and tapes them around the halls so that each patient gets a flower.

Shaw said, “The nurses, they are our frontline troops fighting a war. People say they support their troops well they got to support their nurses.”

Linda Lambert, the Unit Secretary for CoxHealth, said, “I think it brings hope to the patients. Sometimes if you are here awhile, you forget there is an outside world, but flowers bring that right back.”

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