NORWICH – It wouldn’t be spring in Chenango County without Hospice’s Annual Plant Sale. For nearly 20 years the non-profit health care agency has sold plants around Memorial Day to raise funds which help pay for patient care costs,” says Donna Wood-Craig, the agency’s Development and Community Relations Coordinator. “This sale has grown by leaps and bounds, primarily because we expanded our customer base holding internal sales in nearly 60 schools and companies; and this year we’re adding a chicken barbecue.

“Years ago we only sold geraniums,” said Wood-Craig. “However, now we offer so much more; pots of geraniums, gerber daisies, even flats of impatiens. We have hanging ivy geranium baskets, wave petunias, New Guinea impatiens, and our most popular mixed flower basket.” Hospice’s plant sale is truly a countywide one with pickup points in Nowich, at Weiler Park; and at local NBT branch locations in Afton, Bainbridge, New Berlin, Oxford, and Sherburne. “Our prices are comparable to the best flower shops, with the added satisfaction that every dollar you spend helps a worthy agency raise much-needed funds,” empasized Wood-Craig. Every year Hospice needs to raise about $150,000 to fill the financial gap between the actual cost of patient care and what private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid reimburse the agency.