WENZHOU, China (UCAN) — Some young Catholics not usually seen at Mass have been coming to church after work every evening since Feb.
11. They are helping a Church group prepare roses for sale on Valentine’s Day to raise funds for charity. Rainbow Family, a volunteer group of Leqing parish in Wenzhou diocese, Zhejiang province, decided on the activity since “more and more young mainland Chinese follow the Western custom of sending flowers to loved ones on that day,” Feb. 14, explained Clare, an organizer of the fund-raising event. The laywoman said on Feb. 12 that a flower-shop owner had told her selling flowers on that day generates a higher profit. In ordinary times, a pink rose sells for 5 yuan (US$0.73) at the local market and a rose dyed blue for 20-30 yuan. “But on Valentine’s Day, prices rise to 10-30 yuan for a pink rose and 90-150 yuan for a blue rose,” Clare said. However, Rainbow Family has set its prices at 10 and 20 yuan, respectively, for pink and blue roses. Clare believes such low prices will attract people to buy the 1,200 pink and blue roses it ordered from Yunnan province. As of Feb. 13, Clare noted, her group had already received orders covering 60 percent of the flowers. It is preparing them in bouquets of 11 flowers each, except for one customer who ordered a bouquet of 101 roses.
Since Feb. 11, seven to eight Catholics have come to the church each evening to wrap the roses. The group planned to deliver the bouquets on Feb. 13 and 14, and sell any remaining flowers at the Liushi county market in Wenzhou.