How can more joy, kindness and hope come from a wedding? When the flowers from that wedding, instead of being thrown in the garbage, are fashioned into dozens of smaller flower arrangements, and given to elderly and sick people in nursing homes and hospitals.

That's the idea behind "Bouquets of Hope," a ministry run by Catholic Charities of West Tennessee in Memphis. Volunteers pick up flowers from weddings or other large events, rearrange them, and then share them with people who may not ever have the pleasure of having fresh flowers in their rooms.

Volunteers deliver the arrangements, some of them teens from the diocese, others people who are in the job training program run by the diocese. They tell the recipient that the flowers are to make them smile, and that they're not allowed to leave until they get one!

Each arrangement comes with a card with an uplifting message, like "You are so special!", "Have a wonderful day." or "You are a ray of sunshine!"

What a great idea to take something that might go to waste and use it to brighten someone else's day!

(Images: Catholic Charities of West Tennessee Facebook page )