LEESBURG, Va. — Rachel Roberts thought it was a fluke. 12 years ago, she began offering bouquets of flowers outside her Leesburg home in exchange for donations for Loudoun Hunger Relief. She raised 50 dollars from her efforts.
“That’s a one hit wonder,” Roberts thought.
Instead, her simple idea went multiplatinum.
In the years since, Rachel has become affectionately known as Leesburg’s “Flower Lady.” Loudoun Hunger Relief has received nearly 200,000 dollars in donations from her efforts.
“The simplicity of [Rachel’s work] certainly does not reflect the impact of the generosity it’s had,” Jennifer Montgomery, executive director of the non-profit, said.
Rachel prepares each of her signature bouquets by hand using flowers from her backyard. She spends hours every day clipping and cleaning flowers.
“Each one I scrutinize over as if it’s going to my best friend,” Roberts said.
The idea to raise money for hunger relief came after volunteering at Roberts’ grandchildren’s school. A young girl mentioned she was hungry and mentioned she hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning or dinner the night prior.
“I thought I got to do something,” Roberts said.
Though the grandmother’s act of generosity has not come without its challenges. Roberts had spent so much time cutting flowers that she eventually needed surgery on her hand. That didn’t stop her, nor did a breast cancer diagnosis in 2020.
“Your world can stop in one minute or you can keep it going,” Roberts said. “I’ve been told to just give it up, and I can’t just give it up.”
Entering her 13th year of cutting flowers, Roberts has no plans to stop anytime soon.
“I just know that it makes a difference,” she said.