Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzanne Tarry.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
That’s a big question… I grew up a normal kid with a normal life. My teenage years were rocky, as most people’s are, but I “survived” and headed off to college on a pre-Med schedule (21 hours my first semester) and dreams of becoming a Dr. The Fall of 1995, my sophomore year, I started getting sick on and off- like the flu, no big deal. When I noticed a very swollen lymph node in my neck, my mom decided to bypass our regular Dr. and go straight to an Oncologist. Having been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease at 19, she didn’t want to take any chances. We saw the oncologist on a Monday, had surgery to remove said lymph node that Friday, and went to my college the following Tuesday to pack up all my things and move me home. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Large cell lymphoma and had a tumor in my chest the size of my heart. Stupid strong Chemo and Radiation were the plans. My mother had to quit work to care for me as, at times, I could barely stand up or move around. All through this, I don’t ever remember being scared or thinking I would die; I think things like this are harder on the people around you. All you’re thinking about as the patient is, “Get through this. Get through this. Get through this.”
After six months of Chemo, three months of radiation, one bald head, and about 1000 trips to the hospital, I was declared cancer-free. All the while, I was feeling during the treatments, “This is really hard. I don’t want to do anything hard anymore. I just want to make people happy.” So I changed my career path from medicine to becoming a Flower Lady. Fast Forward 23 years in the floral industry, I’m married, I’m a mom of two little girls, Covid-19 hits, no more weddings, no more events, hell, no more flowers- we couldn’t even get them in the country. So I sat. At Home. With my two littles. Going crazy. Now, what was I going to do to make people happy… Late one evening, stuck inside my home, I thought of how blessed I was to be able to stay home and safe, and I thought about how brave others HAD to be to help those around them. I knew I couldn’t put people in safe housing, I couldn’t feed people who lost their jobs, I couldn’t care for people who got sick from this awful disease, but maybe I could support the people who do.
I started making up Blessing Bags for essential workers, filled with self-care sundries, nice lotions, bath bombs, mud masks- anything to help someone relax after an arduous day. I came up with a name, Olive Tree Blessing Bags, and started asking for product donations. Quickly I realized that it needed to be bigger, much bigger. Within three weeks, we were incorporated and, now here’s the kicker, within six weeks, we received our Nonprofit Status. People wait months, even years, to get their Nonprofit status, and we got it in six weeks. All I can think is it’s totally a God thing. There’s no way it could’ve happened without divine intervention. The donations started coming in and Olive Tree Blessing Bags were going out into the community. We started with a few Medical offices and Healthcare workers, then started looking at Homeless shelters, food banks, and addiction centers. These centers often receive donations, but they’re all for the clients or to further their company mission. How often does the staff get recognized? Or even **gasp** get told: “Thank You”? When I started, I thought maybe we’d put out 400 or 500 bags, and even that seemed like a stretch, but now after being “open” only 13 months, we’ve distributed over 3,000 bags and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I feel that what we’re doing is important. People need to hear “Thank You” for the good they put into the world and our little blessing bags do just that.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been an amazing journey opening a Nonprofit, but no, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Late nights reading legal paperwork that I still don’t understand, filling out form after form after form to get us licensed locally and nationally, figuring out accounting practices and the taxes and requirements I needed to adhere to, each one just as confusing as the next. Then there’s been the biggest hardship, funding.
Our community has rallied beside us, donating over $13,000 to us in our first year, but the need is ongoing. We are 100% volunteer-run and operated. Everything that comes in goes out in the form of blessing bags or community support (cleaning supplies and masks for teachers, toys for kids at Christmas, soaps and toothbrushes for the Homeless), but yet we aren’t housing, feeding, or curing covid so corporate support has been hard. We are applying for grants, but in the meantime, still cranking out the Blessing Bags, whether we have funding or not.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Me personally, I’m a worker bee. I do not want to be the queen. I’ve seen her job and I don’t want it! I’m the little bee that brings all the other bees lemonade after a long day of pollen gathering. I think part of being successful is not just knowing what you are good at, but also knowing what you are not good at. I’m good at making smiles. I love bringing joy to others, whether it’s with flowers or blessing bags. The most important thing is listening to your inner voice. Whether it’s God, Karma, Insight, your inner voice will push you to do the things you are supposed to. I have listened and followed to create Olive Tree. I do pray and ask for direction, “God, if this is it, that’s fine. I’ve accomplished the task You set for me.” Then later, I’ll get a donation, receive a thank you note, or get a request for bags. Somehow we persevere. I don’t have any special skills. I’m a buyer, like thousands of other buyers out there, but it is what I’m doing with it that matters.
What makes you happy?
Happiness is a choice for me (most of the time). What brings me Joy is simple things- the wind on my face, getting caught in a downpour, digging my toes into beach sand. There’s something about having a connection to nature.
Pricing:
- With a $25.00 donation you can fill FOUR blessing bags.
- With a $50.00 donation you fill NINE blessing bags
- With a $100.00 donation you fill TWENTY bags
Contact Info:
- Email: suzanne@olivetreeblessings.com
- Website: www.olivetreeblessings.com www.olivetreeweddings.com
- Instagram: @olivetreeblessings
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/olivetreeblessingbags
