The Daffodil Project 9/11 Memorial: 
One Dutchman's Gift of Hope, 
Renewal, and Beauty 

This year Mother Nature played the biggest Halloween trick of all. The calendar said autumn. The weather screamed winter. A freak storm dumped 30 inches of snow on parts of North Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire two days before Halloween. New York City lucked out. Only 2.9 inches of snow fell on Central Park, the first time since1869 the city had more than an inch in October and thousands of residents lost power. The storm damaged almost 1000 trees in Central Park. 

Amid the snow, slush and downed trees spring has indeed arrived. Thanks to city’s “The Daffodil Project” the weary spirits of thousands of volunteers from several hundred-community groups have perked up some.

Founded in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, the project is an ongoing memorial honoring the lives of those who died and adds beauty and color to the city, often where there is very little. Four million daffodils bloom in parks, community gardens, along highways and in front of schools, and libraries each spring.

The project began immediately following 9/11 with Hans van Waardenburg of B&K Fowerbulbs, a major tulip bulb supplier in Holland, his way of lending emotional support.

Devastated by what he saw on television he contacted his friend Lynden B. Miller, a public garden designer in New York City and director of The Conservatory Garden in Central Park. He wanted the help and wanted to know what could he do. She asked if he had any extra bulbs. He did. He shipped 500,000 right away. In addition he got the city of Rotterdam and its Port Authority to donate 500,000 daffodils and 90,000 yellow tulip bulbs. That year the city received 1.5 million bulbs from local and other international donors.

Weeks after 9/11 the parks department and the Partnership for Parks organized a planting day. Ten thousand volunteers planted 250,000 bulbs that first day in late October.

Why Daffodils? Miller and van Waardenburg choose daffodils instead of tulips, a symbol of Holland, because squirrels eat tulips. Daffodils are recurring flowers and their vibrant colors embrace renewal and spring. They are well suited for the tough city landscape. They are resilient. They split off to form new flowers and require minimal care. And they are pollution resistant, a key point for congested city streets.

The Daffodil Project impacts all five boroughs. Groups from McCarren Park in Greenpoint Brooklyn, to Curtis High School on Staten Island, the Soundview Community Center in the Bronx, the Long Island City Community Garden in Queens, and the tree pits of the West 55^th Block Association in Manhattan have all taken advantage of this free program.

A few years after van Waardenburg sent his first shipment of bulbs, Joseph Temeczko, a Polish immigrant and Minnesotan handyman, followed with his own generous gift. He willed his entire estate of $1.4 million to New York City. The city spruced up Columbus Park in Chinatown and other public spaces in lower Manhattan and set aside $300,000 for the Daffodil  Project. Mr. Temeczko, a Nazi prisoner of war survivor, died a month after 9/ll while tending his garden.

Van Waardenburg continues to donate bulbs – almost four million to date – shipped by Con Edison. Other corporate sponsors have stepped in to help.

This year New Yorkers for Parks distributed bulbs on October 16 at Union Square Park. From mid-October to mid-November volunteers will plop bulbs – 250 allotted to each group - into their gardens and community spaces and look forward to April or May when they bloom and the daffodils blanket the city.

In 2007 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg named the daffodil the city’s official flower.

For more information go to: New Yorker For Parks

ENCORE AT SAINT MALACHY'S CHURCH: BROADWAY CLASSIC IS A BEACON OF HOPE FOR SENIORS

Broadway's longest running show does not have elaborate costumes or a dazzling multi-million dollar set. Its marquee is not adorned with bright lights and large photographs promoting its star performers. Limousines and taxis do not jostle for position curbside.

Except for a small banner decorated with shades of yellow, purple, blue and a small
red heart held by two hands, it is easy to walk past Encore.
If you do you are missing the theater district's most important act.

Located in the lower level of St. Malachy's Church, formerly the Actor's Chapel, Encore bills itself as "Broadway's longest running act of loving car." It serves low-income elderly living in Clinton and Times Square. Founded in 1977 by the late Reverend George Moore, pastor of St. Malachy's, and Sisters Elizabeth Hasselt, the center's executive director, and Lillian McNamara, head of senior services, this nondenominational center began modestly serving twenty-five meals a day. Today Encore's breakfast and lunch program feeds more than 430 people daily, delivers another weekends.

Sister Lillian remembers the early days. "We used to get food from Horn & Hardart on 57th Street and carry it back," she said.

Conceived as a place for seniors to escape the squalid apartments in run-down tenements and dingy crime-ridden single room occupancies, Encore is clean, safe and friendly. When asked why St. Malachy's geared their ministry to helping the elderly Sister Lillian said, "Father Moore pounded the pavement. He met with block associations, community groups, churches and discovered many elderly lived in substandard conditions."

Encore is more than a place to chat and eat. It is filled with friends, neighbors and caring professionals. Social workers, a part-time nurse and scores of volunteers treat seniors with respect and dignity.

Sidney Friedman, a retired postal clerk and a nine- year resident of Encore 49, a residence run by the center, stayed at the Bellevue Men's Shelter shortly before moving here. "I like this place very much. It is safe, very comfy, very proper," he said. Mr. Friedman a trained concert pianist who studied at Juilliard added "And I can practice my music. We have a piano here and at the center. I play Broadway show tunes and popular hits at our parties."

Encore provides support services for homebound seniors, which enables them to live independently. Forced to remain at home due to fragile health, often impoverished, without family or friends, these forgotten seniors cannot shop, cook, clean or tend to their medical needs alone.

Encore programs are geared for these seniors. The Friendly Visiting Program matches volunteers, often-younger professionals with seniors. They are asked to visit their new friends weekly - talk, go for walks or read to those with failing eyesight. Tied in with this are Meals-on-Wheels, the Shop and Escort and Telephone Assurance Programs, whereby callers check in twice a week.

Encore has expanded substantially since it first opened twenty-five years ago. It administers an array of programs, social events and services to over 14,000 seniors annually. Encore offers weekly classes in painting and crafts. Seniors take Yoga, Shiatsu, Tai Chi and aerobics. There are dances, birthday and holiday celebrations, movies and concerts. The Schubert Organization and the theater community assist Encore. Seniors receive free tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway shows.

Encores full-time on-site certified social workers provide one-on-one benefits and entitlement counseling. They help with Medicare, Medicaid, housing, financial and legal matters such as living wills. There are crisis intervention and mental health services. The Bridge Project provides bereavement and grief support.

Long an advocate for decent and affordable housing Encore opened a SRO style residence in 1989 in the Markwell Hotel on West 49th Street. Home to 89 formerly homeless seniors, this safe, well-maintained facility provides an array of support services that helped residents move from life on the streets and shelters. The newly built Encore West Residence, Tenth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets provides housing for 84 low-income seniors.

"There is a desperate need for decent and affordable housing for senior and low-income families in our area," Sister Lillian said. "Seniors live on fixed incomes. They cannot afford exorbitant rents. Often they cannot even afford to buy food.
"Encore is a model of how it can and should be done," Sister Lillian said. "We treat the senior as a complete human being. A person needs food but also decent housing and services. And that's our mission."

For information contact Encore Senior Center, at Saint Malachy’s Church, 239 West 49th Street, NYC; 212-581-2910

Photo: By Rudi Papiri