Plucks and Pucks: Bentley Florist's sponsorship of the Flint Generals hockey team earns the shop some extra help on Good Neighbor Day. From left, John Patch, director of sales, marketing and merchandise and Coach Peter South check in with a customer.

Hockey players aren't known for their soft touch, but a team from Flint, Mich., traded pucks for petals to help a local florist hand out 5,000 roses as part of FTD Good Neighbor Day on Sept. 3. Bentley Florist has the been the official florist of the Flint Generals for 25 years, says owner Steve Welch, and the two split the cost of the Good Neighbor Day roses every year.

While this year's giveaway didn't reach the heights of last year's (when Generals Coach Peter South headed north to the top of the hockey stadium to hand out roses and sell season tickets from the roof), it did reach its goal of blanketing the area in flowers. "People were lined up when we opened at 9:00 a.m. and by noon all the flowers were gone," Welch says, echoing the sentiment of many a FTD participating florist.

Welch, who has participated in Good Neighbor Day since it began, starts working the media a month ahead of time every year, sending a press release to local newspapers and all three network affiliates. Two weeks before, he sends another; the day before, he sends another. Then on Good Neighbor's Day eve, he delivers a dozen roses to the evening newscast team of the ABC affiliate (the one nearest his shop). The day of the event, Welch silences his inner ""I'm not a morning person" voice and delivers another arrangement to the station's morning crew at 5:30 a.m. This year, all three stations covered the giveaway, along with reporters from three newspapers. "You can't just sit back and let the free flowers do the work, especially if other shops are doing it," he says. "This is the perfect feel-good story but don't expect the media to come looking for it, you have to remind them and make it easy." He also made it a bit easier for the freebie recipients to return as paying customers by handing out a $5 gift certificate.

Welch is one of hundreds of florists nationwide carrying on the tradition started in 1994 in Jackson, Miss, when Brook Jacobs gave away 15,000 roses as part of his savvy promotion. Folks who came into Greenbrook Flowers got a dozen roses but were encouraged to keep just one flower and pass on the other 11. FTD later bought the rights to the Good Neighbor Day name, but Jacobs remained at the heart of the effort, giving away 35,000 roses in 2007. He died just days before this year's event.

Canned Response: Delmar Florist's customers heard and heeded the shop's request for a donation of canned goods, nonperishable items or a cash donation in exchange for a dozen roses.

The philanthropy bent of the event continues to thrive, as many florists also incorporated food drives and charity donations, says Emily Peterson, an FTD spokesperson, who at press time did not have the exact number of participants but estimated that "hundreds" got in the swing of it.

Two additional creative approaches to Good Neighbor deeds:

• At Delmar Florist, each person who brought in items or a cash donation for the local food pantry received their free dozen roses, says owner Barbara Ostroff. The shop's success in raising $654 and netting 448 pantry items won the admiration of the town supervisor, who is planning on proclaiming Good Neighbor Day an official holiday in Delmar, N.Y.

• Flowers By Robert Taylor in West Covina, Calif., was on the receiving end of a donation, says Robert Bryant. After three weeks of unsuccessful attempts to get a sponsor, Bryant decided to call off the event and chalk up the loss to a tough economy. "Then by the wonderful generosity of a stranger, we received a cashier's check with a big note on it to keep FTD Good Neighbor Day going stuck through our front door," Bryant says. "It was enough to purchase a good amount of flowers." With little time to prepare, they relied on the volunteer help of members of the local city council and chamber of commerce to pass out flowers and drum up publicity. More than 300 people emptied the shop of its roses in three hours. "In the end our local neighbors had a very FTD Good Neighbor Day because of that generous person," Bryant says.