Alexandria, Virginia – Halfway through the American Floral Endowment’s Virtual Fundraising Event happening through August, the #GivingtoGrow Mask-erade Event response has been incredible. Over 50 floral organizations have sponsored the event to support AFE’s mission of funding floral industry research, educational grants, scholarships, and internship programs.
“AFE has been supporting the floral industry for nearly 60 years, and now more than ever we must all come together to help continue the great work being done to further promote and support our businesses,” says Ken Young, AAF, chairman of AFE’s public relations and development committee. “We are so grateful for our sponsors and those participating who are helping to provide important resources for our industry.”
The virtual event includes a fun and creative mask design contest sponsored by Rio Roses, where the winner receives a monthly arrangement of roses for an entire year! Beautifully decorated mask photos are coming in and are posted on AFE’s social media accounts with the #GivingtoGrow tag. There’s still time to participate in the event as a sponsor or a participant. Visit endowment.org/GivingtoGrow to register before August 31st!
There’s Still Time to Join the Mask-erade!
Get creative and show us your style!
Win FREE ROSES for ONE YEAR from RIO ROSES!*
To Enter the Contest:
- Register for the Virtual Mask-erade Dinner at endowment.org/GivingtoGrow by August 31st
- Once you receive your event mask by mail, decorate and customize it
- Take a photo at a fun virtual dinner anywhere!
- Submit your mask photo to AFE using #GivingtoGrow and tag any of American Floral Endowment’s social media accounts:
Instagram – @american_floral_endowment
Facebook – @americanfloralendowment
Twitter – @FloralEndowment
All contest entries must reside in the United States and are due by Friday, September 11th, 2020. Both AFE and Rio Roses will regularly share the submitted photos in their publications, websites, and social media accounts throughout the event and once the event is over, AFE will share a collage of all the participants.
The contest winner will be selected by Rio Roses based on Design Technique/Creativity 40%, Uniqueness 40%, and Location/Background 20%. The winner will be announced on Thursday, October 1st, 2020.
*See endowment.org/GivingtoGrow for full details
Your charitable donation supports ongoing floral industry programs and is fully tax-deductible. Visit endowment.org/GivingtoGrow to become a sponsor or attendee.
About the Virtual Mask-erade Dinner
The American Floral Endowment has been serving the floral industry for 59 years with 44 years of our annual fundraising dinner and they want to continue the streak. This annual dinner is an important and vital fundraising event that helps offset administrative expenses so that more of AFE’s contributions can be used to fund research and programs to help grow the industry. The Endowment is currently funding 12 research projects and 29 annual scholarships totaling over $800,000 000 in research initiatives, educational grants, scholarships, and internships.
About Rio Roses
For the past three decades, the privately-owned Equiflor has been a leading fresh flower grower and distributor in the region. They hand grow and carefully nurture each plant to provide the highest quality flowers every time. What started as a family business in 1986 has flourished into a household name, with the nationally branded, fresh-cut “Rio Roses” distributed via a network of flower wholesalers across the US and Canada. From a state-of-the-art distribution center near Miami International Airport, the growth, importation, distribution, and marketing of roses, carnations, and specialty flowers are carefully managed from the major growing regions of the world.
About AFE
The American Floral Endowment is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the floriculture and horticulture industry through funding research, educational grants and scholarships. Since 1961, more than $16 million has been funded in research and educational projects, and more than $3 million has been funded in scholarships and internships designed to attract and retain the future leaders of the industry. To learn more about AFE or how you can support floriculture programs, visit www.endowment.org. www.endowment.org.
