BANGOR, Maine — A flower shop in Bangor encouraged people to "Petal It Forward" on Wednesday.
Bangor Floral workers set up a station in the city's West Market Square to hand out two flowers to each person who walked by. One flower was for that person to keep, and the other was to give away to a friend, family member, or even a stranger.
The initiative is part of a nationwide effort by the Society of American Florists to encourage random acts of kindness. It was started in 2015.
Joseph Langlois, the owner of Bangor Floral, said this is the first year he decided to participate, and he's enjoying being able to put smiles on people's faces.
"Flowers are a happy business, everyone loves getting flowers and I love just being able to surprise random people on the street, and they appreciate it and it makes me feel good," Langlois said.
Bangor Floral employees handed out flowers from noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday. The idea behind this initiative is to not only promote random acts of kindness but to help people start their day with more smiles and less stress.
"Like a drop of water in a pond and the ripples just keep going out, hopefully, smiles and happiness keep radiating outward," Langlois added.
Langlois said the original idea behind "Petal It Forward" came from statistics that show about 80 percent of people report receiving flowers makes them happy and nearly 90 percent of people said giving flowers to others makes them happy.
"We want to give people the chance to experience both," Langlois said.
For more information about research on the effects that flowers have on stress, click here.