John Riester, St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute ‘21, and his sister Grace, Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart ‘23, were inspired by their parents to give back to the community in their own creative way.
The siblings’ mom is a midwife at local hospitals, and their dad is a volunteer for the fire company in their town, hence both parents come in contact with COVID-19 patients daily. Therefore, John and Grace realized firsthand that frontline workers experience long and stressful days, and they wanted to bring a little “tasty and lighthearted sarcastic fun” to local hardworking personnel, to make their days a little easier.
Instead of sitting idly by, the duo created sucker bouquets with tags saying “For the Days that Really Suck”, to attempt to crack smiles on the faces of brave and relentlessly overworked hospital staff members.
“Doctors and nurses and midwives are always giving themselves and doing everything to help others,” Grace said. “These suckers seemed like a very small thing we could do for the big things they are doing.”
When I last checked, they had amassed 5,000 suckers and delivered about 30 bouquets to Millard Fillmore Suburban and Sisters of Charity hospitals. That number has most likely grown.
