Around Town

Quiet Heroes of New Canaan: Michele Ayoub

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Michele Ayoub has been donating Mother’s Day tulips to Staying Put in New Canaan members since the start of the pandemic, according to the popular nonprofit organization. A mom who appreciated the support she received from neighbors during her pregnancy and baby-rearing, Ayoub began growing the flowers as Mother’s Day gifts for those same neighbors, as well as family and friends, and even threw a “tulip party,” according to Gina Blum, executive director of Staying Put. 

The annual yield is now up to some 3,000 to 4,000 tulips “that she plants every year and during COVID she did not have the party, so she found Staying Put in New Canaan and other organizations who deliver them to seniors, and she continued with us each year,” Blum said by way of nominating Ayoub for the “Quiet Heroes” series. Founded in 2008, Staying Put in New Canaan helps local seniors live independent, active and engaged lives as they grow older. (The organization’s “Summer Soirée” will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 6 at Waveny House—details and tickets here.)

According to Robin Bates-Mason, Staying Put’s manager of events and volunteers, the organization gets calls from its members thankful for the flowers. “They’re so appreciative of it and how pretty and unique they [the tulips] are,” Bates-Mason said.