Natalie Berg, left, Random Acts of Flowers executive director, and volunteer Carol Shaw deliver flower arrangements to senior citizens in Chicago's Chalet Living and Rehab center recently.

CHICAGO — Cathy Palivos sorts through a massive box of scarlet roses with deft fingers.

“See here,” she said, pressing the pad of her thumb against the rose. “Always check to see if it has a hard center. It means it will last another five days.”

Palivos, a volunteer from north suburban Evanston, is wearing a purple apron, the strings wrapped twice around the waist and tied in a bow. Her movements are even: One rose goes in a bubble gum pink vase, another in a black recycling bin. Some of the flowers are nearing the end of their life.

Earlier in the week, a bride clutched the roses at her chilly January wedding. Soon they'll be repurposed and delivered to a resident at a local senior care facility.

Random Acts of Flowers, a nonprofit new to Chicago, solicits flower donations from wedding venues, funeral homes, florists and grocery stores. Recently the organization received bunches of blue flowers from a memorial for former Cubs baseball player Ernie Banks.

The flowers are recycled by volunteers such as Palivos and delivered to residents at hospitals, senior care facilities and hospice centers. The patients often have never received flowers. The Chicago branch, which opened recently, currently serves 14 facilities, including Covenant Home of Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Waterford Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Centre and Sunrise of Wilmette.

“It's so simple and so tangible,” said Natalie Berg, executive director of Random Acts of Flowers-Chicago. “You walk into a room of someone who is often down and depressed. They aren't smiling when you walk in, but they sure are when you walk out.”

The nonprofit's Chicago branch is overseen by Brooke MacLean, a former engineer turned mom turned flower aficionado. Her brother-in-law, Larsen Jay, started Random Acts of Flowers six years ago.

Random Acts of Flowers, which is based in Knoxville, has delivered nearly 60,000 bouquets. The organization also has locations in Greeneville, Tenn., and Pinellas County, Fla. A location in Silicon Valley in California is slated to open later this spring.

“We have watched it grow from this little seed of an idea,” MacLean said.