Best friends since childhood, Roberta Dehman Hershon and Beverly Eisenberg enjoyed cultivating each other’s gardens in their hometown of Sharon, Mass. When Beverly became debilitated by breast cancer, Roberta and other friends kept her garden in tiptop shape and filled her house with flowers.
In 2005, Beverly died of breast cancer. Two years later, Roberta decided to bring the joy of gardening she had shared with Beverly to others suffering from breast cancer. In 2007, she founded the nonprofit Hope in Bloom, which provides patients undergoing breast cancer treatment with gardens at no cost.
Working year-round, Roberta and hundreds of fellow volunteers have delivered 74 indoor, container and outdoor gardens to patients — and more than 100 others are on their waiting list.
While running a business, Roberta enlists partnerships with nurseries and garden suppliers, engages the pro bono services of landscape designers, continually recruits volunteer planters and sponsors, and best of all — she helps to plant every garden.
