This week’s Difference Maker is Flowers for Dreams, a West Town business that donates some of its profits to charities.
On a summer afternoon, employees cut salal and smilax, weaving the green leaves into a large circle that will hang above a client’s dance floor.
While CEO Steven Dyme started peddling flowers in his north suburban high school, the idea of Flowers for Dreams came almost unintentionally with co-founder Joseph Dickstein.
Designers create a floral halo for a client
Photo credit Nancy Harty
“He was furnishing backpacks to less fortunate schools. I had a little bit of a light bulb moment. This wasn’t even really a business when it was first getting going and I made it one on the back of that kind of profit and purpose marriage.”
The majority of their business is weddings and flower deliveries, plus some corporate events.
The company has grown to add locations in Milwaukee and Detroit, delivering bouquets wrapped in burlap across the Midwest in decorated black vans.
CEO Steven Dyme
Photo credit Flowers for Dreams
Dyme boasts they were the first flower company in the US to be a Certified B Corporation, giving out $1.7m so far.
The company donates 25% of its profits and has set up a foundation to help choose which organizations will receive grants.
It also has a rapid-response fund to donate to urgent needs, such as legal defense for immigrants.
Featured Image Photo Credit: Flowers for Dreams
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