Sunday, December 16, you are invited to help make holiday bouquets and cards for our veterans at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital.

All ages are welcome, and no experience is necessary to make or deliver the bouquets and cards.

Last year, this grassroots, community-wide effort was a welcome tonic to the usual hustle-bustle of the holidays and this year, you are invited to participate, in whatever way works best for you and your family.

Make bouquets: this year, starting at 10am, Sunday 12/16/12, please join our band of merry mid-town elves to make small bouquets for veterans at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital Spinal Cord Injury unit and the hospital’s hospice.

Deliver bouquets: once the bouquets are done, a team of volunteers (including, rumor has it, the Big Guy in the red suit from the North Pole) will make bedside deliveries early Sunday afternnon... to the Spinal Cord Injury unit and the hospital’s Hospice.

Donate: each small bouquet costs $3 wholesale for the flowers, decorations and vase. We hope to raise enough money to guarantee that every veteran will get his or her own holiday bouquet. Your donation, of any amount, is greatly appreciated. Parents, this is a great opportunity to teach children that even the smallest donations can add up to make the season brighter for our hospitalized vets.

Please drop off your donations at anytime this week, including Sunday 12/16/12, at Nature’s Alley in the Midtown shopping center across from CVS on Middlefield Avenue. If we end up with enough donations, we will take additional bouquets to the VA facility on Willow Road in Menlo Park.

A big thank you to VA recreational therapist Tom McCarthy and VA nurse manager Scott Sutorius for supporting this community effort.

Also, many thanks to Nature’s Alley owner Karen Froniewski, a former nurse, whose compassion is only matched by the beauty of her flowers. Most of all, thank you to our veterans, who we remember and honor this season, and always.

For more information on how you can help, please call Karen at Nature’s Alley (650) 326-3632.