Synergy at Syngenta

Just shy of four decades after the Goldsmith family founded a fundraiser doling out money to Gilroy area youth, there’s still a smile in the flower enthusiast and Rotarian Joel Goldsmith’s face when supporters come rolling through the greenhouse with mixed containers brimming with multicolored annuals and veggies.
For the hundreds of of Gilroy Rotary Club supporters who poured through on April 19, anything but mixed feelings permeated the air about whether the event was a rousing success with sales topping $50,000.
“It was as big of an early line as we’ve seen,” Gilroy Rotary Club spokeswoman Whitney Pintello said. “It was really a treat to break $50,000 this year.”
Gilroy Rotarians helped raise more than $18,000 in the first hour with the goal of garnering an all-time club high—proceeds that benefit local youth scholarships through charitable giving and scholarship programs including the Goldsmith and Syngenta scholarships.
For Rotary President Hamdy Abbass, the longstanding tradition is remarkable to watch and take part in.
“It’s amazing work they put together,” Abbass said as a mass of yellow shirts darted to-and-fro assisting flower sale-goers. Green-cloaked students from Rotary Interact and student volunteers including those from Gilroy High School, Christopher High School and Gilroy Early College Academy intermixed with the Rotarians and customers alike filling exotic-sounding plant varieties in mixed baskets.
From bargain basement deals to lush hanging baskets, the popularity of this year’s event continued to soar, according to several members, as cars continued to line up outside clamoring for a flower pickup and the group’s newly acquired iPads hummed in accounting figures.
At least $35,000 of the proceeds will benefit local youth scholarships next year, according to Pintello.
More information
For more information, visit gilroyrotary.org.
Syngenta Seeds makes it a tradition to roll out trials of its newest flower varieties during the California Spring Trials held in March. Gilroy Rotary Club receives leftovers as a donation and organizers a one-day sale with volunteers to get it done.