Daffodil Days

In late March and early April, Canadian Cancer Society volunteers are busy delivering and selling bright, yellow daffodils across the country to help raise money in support of the fight against cancer.

The daffodil is the Canadian Cancer Society's symbol of hope in the fight against cancer. The cheerful blooms are sold every year and mark the beginning of the Society's annual door-to-door fundraising campaign in April.

The history of Daffodil Days

Daffodil Days began in Toronto in the 1950s. A group of Canadian Cancer Society volunteers organized a fundraising tea and decided to decorate the tables with daffodils. The bright, cheerful flowers created an atmosphere that seemed to radiate hope and faith that cancer could be beaten. Soon these gatherings came to be known as Daffodil Teas.

Jackie Brockie, a volunteer who also worked at Eaton's, supported the idea of Daffodil Teas and arranged for Lady Eaton to host a Tea in the store. Seven hundred women attended.

Another volunteer, Lane Knight, arranged for restaurants to give part of their receipts to the Society on the opening day of the door-to-door campaign in 1956. Canadian Cancer Society volunteers were on hand at local restaurants to give patrons a daffodil as a token of appreciation when they paid for their meals. The sight of so many daffodils being carried around the city created interest. When some people tried to pay for the flowers or make donations, the Canadian Cancer Society quickly realized that the sale of daffodils would generate additional funds.

Canadian Cancer Society volunteer Fran Shannon headed the team that planned the sale of daffodils on the streets of Toronto the following year. An anonymous donor paid for 5,000 blooms to be flown from British Columbia where the growing season starts earlier than in Ontario.

The daffodils were an instant success, raising more than $1,200 the first year. The idea was adopted by other provinces across Canada as well as the American Cancer Society.

Today, the Canadian Cancer Society is the world's largest purchaser of daffodils and the growers in British Columbia must arrange their plantings to meet the needs of the Society’s spring demand for live blooms.

Last modified on:  26 June 2008

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