The coronavirus pandemic calls for self-distancing, but people can still come together to do a good deed – one Georgian farmer and a group of local medics can vouch for that.
Kako Jeiranashvili was in despair. The 63-year-old man had been growing tulips on his lot in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region for years. The beautiful red flowers, which he sent to capital Tbilisi every spring, have always been a reliable source of income for him.
But the coronavirus pandemic has delivered a massive blow to the market as few are eager to spend cash on flowers when they need face masks. This put the farmer on the brink of bankruptcy and was even unable to buy seeds to plant new tulips next season.
Luckily for Kako, one Facebook user spread the word of his hardship and people just couldn’t remain indifferent. Helping the distressed florist has turned into a huge campaign, which saw 5,000 lari (almost $1,600) gathered for him.
The sum not just covered all of the farmer’s losses, but turned out to be two times more than he initially expected to make.
“We are so grateful. We want to thank everyone. We are shocked that he received such attention and support from people,” Kako’s daughter told reporters.
One good deed led to another as the touched florist said he wanted to gift hundreds of his unsold red tulips to Georgian medics to raise their spirits amid the difficult battle with the coronavirus. And the activists were there again to help him deliver the tulips to the addressees.
There have so far been 170 coronavirus cases registered in Georgia, with one fatality reported on Saturday. The local medical system is now working hard to prevent exponential growth of infections as has happened in many other countries.
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