The Big Picture
On the first day of spring, a simple flower is helping deliver something many cancer patients need as much as medicine: hope. At Holy Cross Hospital – Jordan Valley Cancer Center, Roy High School students are continuing a meaningful tradition by growing daffodils and presenting them, along with handwritten notes, to patients undergoing cancer treatment.
What started as a creative solution to a missed ordering deadline has become a powerful partnership between a local school and a cancer center, one that turns a seasonal symbol into a moment of connection.
Why It Matters
Cancer treatment can be physically exhausting and emotionally isolating. Small gestures, especially ones that feel personal, can cut through that fatigue and remind patients they are seen and supported.
For the students, the project is more than community service. Several of them have personal connections to cancer in their own families, and the chance to show up for someone else carries real weight. As one student put it, being able to offer encouragement to patients feels like a way to pass along the kind of support that matters most when life gets hard.
For cancer center staff, the impact reaches beyond patients. The notes and flowers can also uplift families who are grieving and team members who spend their days caring for others. The message lands in every corner of the building: you are not alone.
What’s Happening
This spring, Roy High’s floriculture students grew individual pots of daffodils at the school, while other student groups joined in by creating handwritten cards for patients.
When the students arrived at the Jordan Valley Cancer Center, they delivered the flowers and had the opportunity to talk with patients and hear firsthand what the gesture meant. The result was a day filled with emotion, gratitude, and a kind of joy that can feel rare inside a treatment center.
Patients described the experience as deeply moving. One breast cancer survivor shared that finishing treatment made the moment even more meaningful, and that the encouragement from the students felt like a reminder of how much love can show up from unexpected places.
The Bottom Line
This is a story about a small act with an outsized impact. Daffodils are a symbol of spring because they return year after year, and in the same way, this partnership is becoming a tradition patients and staff can count on.
A flower. A handwritten note. A few minutes of conversation. Together, they create something lasting: a shared moment of hope that reminds patients they are supported, and reminds students that compassion can genuinely change someone’s day.