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On Valentine's Day this year, Ashley Manning won't be at a romantic dinner with her husband. Instead, she'll be delivering flower arrangements and gift bags to widows.
Manning, 39, a florist from Charlotte, North Carolina, started her "Valentine’s Day Widow Outreach" last year after she asked her followers on Instagram to send her names and addresses of widows in her area so she could bring them flower arrangements.
Her initial goal was to deliver 25 arrangements to widows, but in the end, she delivered 121.
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This year, the project has grown even more. Manning told Fox News Digital that she plans to deliver 400 arrangements on Monday with the help of 150 volunteers.
On Valentine's Day this year, Ashley Manning won't be at a romantic dinner with her husband. Instead, she'll be delivering flower arrangements and gift bags to widows. (Courtesy of Ashley and Brandon Manning)
"This is a really beautiful way to celebrate love on this day to the people in our community," Manning told Fox News Digital.
Manning said volunteers will help her prepare the arrangements and gift bags on Saturday and Sunday, with 100 people signed up to help on both days.
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This year, "Valentine’s Day Widow Outreach" plans to deliver 400 arrangements on Monday with the help of 150 volunteers. (Courtesy of Ashley and Brandon Manning)
In total, Manning said she’s spending $14,000 on flowers alone. Each arrangement will have between 30 and 35 stems.
Aside from volunteers and financial donations to the program, Manning said she’s also getting help from local businesses and franchises.
Small businesses are pitching in to help with items in the gift bags or are donating food, drinks and other supplies to support Manning and her volunteers this weekend.
"I really do think it’s important that people know that something like this is just such a bigger effort than one person," Manning said. "I couldn’t do it myself. And every $5 donation and every $1,000 donation means a lot."
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Though Manning said she donates arrangements and flowers to several causes, there’s something about caring for widows, in particular, that’s close to her heart.
"I just think that that is a population that’s sometimes forgotten," Manning told Fox News Digital.
Aside from volunteers and financial donations to the program, Ashley Manning said she’s also getting help from local businesses and franchises for her Valentine's Day flower giveaway. (Courtesy of Ashley and Brandon Manning)
Last year, Manning said she brought her children to deliver flowers and a gift bag to one of their elderly neighbors. Though Manning said she had never met the neighbor, she knew that the woman was a widow.
When the woman answered the door, Manning explained what they were doing.
"And she said, ‘This is just so nice, it just makes me want to cry,’" Manning recalled. "And she started to cry and then my 10-year-old son started to cry. We stood there and talked to her and she told us that her husband had been gone for so long. And she said, ‘When they’re gone for so long, you forget to be sad on days like this because you forget what it was like to even get things on Valentine’s Day.’"
Ashley Manning, 39, a florist from Charlotte, North Carolina, started "Valentine’s Day Widow Outreach" in 2021 after she asked her followers on Instagram to send her names and addresses of widows in her area, so she could bring them flower arrangements. (Courtesy of Ashley and Brandon Manning)
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As Manning and her kids walked back to their car, Manning said her 8-year-old daughter told her she felt "really good" after delivering the flowers and making their neighbor so happy.
Manning said her daughter asked: "Is this why we do things like this?"
"As a parent, that is something that you can’t teach – it’s something that they have to feel on their own," Manning said. "That’s kind of the most memorable moment for me, was the kids seeing what it meant to that lady."
"It’s our job to show our kids how to be human," Manning added. "And if we all were just a little bit more selfless and thought a little more about other people, I think this would be a whole different world."
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As the "Valentine’s Day Widow Outreach" expands, Manning said she plans to form an official nonprofit and help people in other communities launch similar outreach programs.
Ashley Manning hopes to turn "Valentine’s Day Widow Outreach" into a nonprofit organization. (Courtesy of Ashley and Brandon Manning)
"This is something that just gave me so much joy last year that if I had the energy to do anything, it would be to grow this," Manning said.
A huge part of Manning’s program, she said, is her faith.
"I think that it’s important that we listen to those soft little nudges," Manning said. "I’m a Christian and I know that they’re from the Holy Spirit. And to see this turn into something like this is just definitely, I think, the Lord letting me know that we’re doing the right thing."
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