The Fresh Produce & Floral Council Northern California Expo is slated for April 8 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, CA, under the banner “The Power of Partnership.”

There will be a pre-expo cocktail reception on April 7 from 5-7 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Pleasanton at The Club.

Carissa Mace, president of FP&FC in Anaheim, CA, told The Produce News “approximately 1,500 attendees are expected, which is on par with last year.”

Previously known as Professional Secretaries Week, Administrative Professionals Week is always the last full week of April, and Administrative Professionals Day is the Wednesday of that week. It’s a time set aside to recognize support staff for their accomplishments and contributions to business success.

COON RAPIDS, MN — More than 75 volunteers came out on a sub-zero night, here, and actually paid for the opportunity to pack specially formulated meals to feed starving children in the world.

The 114 boxes of 24,624 meals packed by the volunteers at this year’s Feed My Starving Children Valentine’s Day Hearts for Hope event will be shipped to the Philippines and will feed 67 children for an entire year.

Recycling is currently trendy but The Bloom Project, a nonprofit based in Bend, OR, is re-purposing a special product that most people don’t immediately think of as recyclable — fresh flowers.

Blossoms donated by local florists, special events, wholesalers, supermarket floral centers and growers are rearranged into new bouquets by trained volunteers and then delivered to patients in hospice and palliative care centers.

Thirty-six American flower and foliage farms representing 10 states and hundreds of millions of homegrown stems — and that’s just the beginning.

In seven short months, the American Grown brand has gained momentum and has become the pertinent answer to key questions on the minds of caring consumers and conscientious designers nationwide: Where were these flowers grown? And who grew them?

Garden centers will soon be up and running after a cold and snowy winter. Once spring arrives, business can take off very quickly and also be extremely profitable if handled correctly.