Seeks adopters for 150 flower baskets
LANCASTER, Pa. – As LEADS prepares to hang nearly 300 flower baskets from lampposts throughout the business district in Lancaster on May 17, the nonprofit still seeks to adopt 150 “baskets of hope.”
Your $85 gift will adopt a flower basket, providing you an opportunity to celebrate a friend or loved one, or honor Mother’s Day, Dad’s Day or your pup’s birthday. Personalized tags, naming you or your honoree will be hung from each basket. You will receive a note letting you know the location of your basket.
“It’s been difficult to see our streets empty and many well-loved businesses closing,” says Joel Henry, LEADS president. “Our town that we love so much just isn’t the same.”
That is why this year’s Adopt-A-Basket program means so much to the city of 65,000 residents.
“While experiencing this has been difficult, we are also encouraged as we look around and observe people stepping up,” Henry says. “We are witnessing our community members helping one another in so many ways. All of this gives us hope.”
This year the group has extended its reach with 50 additional flower baskets on newly installed lampposts along West King Street from Prince to Mulberry streets. The baskets are adopted by businesses and members of the community for $85, which includes daily watering and care for six months. Anyone interested can adopt-a-basket at www.lancasterleads.org/adopt-a-basket.
The beautification effort, a project of LEADS (Lancaster’s Economic Action for Downtown’s Success) since 1999, advances the group’s mission to make the city a more attractive place to visit, shop and live.
LEADS is an all-volunteer group that also provides all city holiday decorations – including the Penn Square Christmas tree. Then, as now, LEADS is a completely volunteer organizations that operates solely from donations.
“The baskets are special this year, because I believe that they represent hope,” says Henry, a Lancaster resident. “The flowers are always a sign of spring and a community that comes together to provide them. This year, the flowers will also be a sign that life is getting back to normal.”
The free event, which includes light refreshments, Harry Potter-themed games, live music, circus acts, and various activities, will be held in the parking lot courtyard and Warehouse D at the 
The Sips & Bits Stroll, the brainchild of Karin Meacham, owner of Art & Glassworks, is in its second month of a summerlong “300 Block Cares” event to raise funds for local non-profits. The event pairs up local independent retail shops with local purveyors of all things yummy and tasty.
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