Duct-tape flowers bloom for Honor Animal Rescue

Rachel Weronik and Abby Misiura are stuck on helping animals.

And since last month, their fingers bare evidence to prove it.

The girls, fifth-grade students at Gene Witt Elementary School, this month began selling flowers made of duct tape at school to raise money for Honor Animal Rescue.

“We both really wanted to do something to help animals, and we thought this was (a) really cool (idea),” Weronik said.

In keeping with the saying, “April showers bring May flowers,” as their teacher Rina Becker suggested, the girls spent the month of April building up their inventory. Then, starting in May, their business blossomed.

Touting business cards for “All Duct Out A&R Flowers” — thanks to Misiura’s mom, Susan — the girls have been selling their duct-tape flower pens each morning from 8-8:30 a.m., offering flowers for $4 each and taking donations for Honor. Patrons get $1 off the “flower of the week,” they said, and students also can buy a punch card to buy five flowers and get one free.

In just the first two weeks of sales, the girls made more than $100. They’ve also gotten donations of more than $200 since the start of April, they said.

“The whole school has been a really big help (in raising money for Honor),” Weronik said. “We both feel really proud and surprised. We realized we can actually do this (to help).”

The girls said they plan to continue selling their unique flowers through the end of May, at which time they will write one check to Honor. They also hope to expand their product offering to include mechanical pencil and highlighter flowers.

Both girls said they hope to continue making duct tape flowers over the summer and sell them to friends and family while on trips, or at other activities.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].