Alexandria, Virginia, September 22, 2020 – The floral community came together and gave to grow the industry through these uncertain times. The American Floral Endowment raised over $80,000 through sponsorships, registrations, and donations which will help fund scholarships, internships, grants, and other industry programs.

Due to the event being unconventionally held fully virtually, AFE was able to net bring in more support for the floral industry than ever before during times when research and development are especially needed to adapt to the new normal. It may have been virtual, but it still brought the community together through some fun mask photos. We thank our sponsors and supporters for making this such a successful event!

We will be announcing the winner of our photo contest with Rio Roses on October 1st! The virtual event included a fun and creative mask design contest sponsored by Rio Roses, where the winner will receive a monthly arrangement of roses for an entire year! We collected and shared over 90 photo submissions over the duration of the event through our social media:

Instagram – @american_floral_endowment
Facebook – @americanfloralendowment
Twitter – @FloralEndowment

From at-home game and date nights to beach and fishing trips, the mask-erade spanned across the US encouraging attendees to have a nice dinner or day out wherever they prefer while personalizing their own mask look.

Thank You to our 2020 Dinner Sponsors >>
See the Mask-erade Photos >>

 

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.