MONTREAL- After her Mile End flower shop all but went up in smoke Monday night, it may sound strange that Tamuy Leu thinks of herself as being fortunate.
“I’m lucky. I’ve got this neighbourhood,” she said Thursday. “People are so amazing, so sweet.”
While she said she has insurance and the fire appears to be accidental, it has put her in a financial bind.
“Everything is finished. I cannot believe that in a half hour I lost everything,” she said.
Leu’s shop, Dragon Flowers, is a community fixture in a neighbourhood marked by turnover caused by gentrification. Members of the community were so moved by her troubles that one resident created a website for donations. By 5 p.m. Thursday, it had raised more than $12,000.
“The immediate response in the last 24 hours is an indication of what Tamuy really means to this community,” said Nora Butler Burke, who created the site. “People have been pushed out, their rents have gone up, and Tammy’s somebody who’s really crucial to the neighbourhood.”
According to wholesaler Mike Block, Leu is a dying breed- a “speculative” community florist. Rather than using statistics or obeying a calendar, she buys flowers based on her own intuition and her knowledge of the community.
“She’s a bit of a gambler. She gambles with most of her inventory, and there’s nothing guaranteed in this business,” Block said. “You’re dealing with a perishable item.”
Leu is a single mother with 14 children who emigrated from Hong Kong. She’s known for working long hours and being a generous shopkeeper.
“She has her kids that she has to support, but she always has something to give to the other kids in the neighbourhood too,” said Mary Haynes, who lives in the neighbourhood.
As Global Montreal was at the shop, one man, John Londono, bought a bunch of flowers not because he needed them, but because he simply wanted to support the business.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen a woman work this hard,” Londono said.
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