Drewitt Family Farms: Tim Drewitt leaves tulips for drivers at Lillydale Lake

After a fun day at Lillydale Lake, hundreds of families had their afternoon made even sweeter thanks to an unexpected gift near their cars.

Tim Drewitt left 300 pots of tulips as gifts for visitors at Lillydale Lake. Picture: David Caird.

A Silvan business owner is continuing his mission to spread joy in the community, with his latest random act of kindness delighting hundreds of visitors to Lillydale Lake.

Tim Drewitt, the owner of Drewitt Family Farms, left 300 pots of tulips near cars parked in the carpark at the Lake on Sunday.

Drivers then received a happy surprise, discovering the gifts when they returned to their cars, sharing photos of the pots on social media.

The tulip pots came with the following note:

“A gift for you.

“Last year had many of us living in fear, for the dreaded Covid was near.

“This year, for many, things are tough, prices just keep going up, up up!

“Keep your head held high, this too will pass.

“Be like a flower, it goes through seasons, everything in life has reasons.

“We hope this pot brings a smile to your face. and reminds you that we think you are pretty ACE!

“A gift from Red Earth Bulbs & Drewitt Family Farms.

“No offence is intended. If this gift isn’t for you, please pass it onto someone new.”

Nicole Day shared a photo of the tulips she received at Lillydale Lake on September 25.

Hundreds of pots were left near cars.

Nicole Day, who found one of the pots near her car, said it was “a lovely” surprise.

“My kids and I had spent a few hours at the lake with my sister and her children, and when we got back to the car we noticed a pot had been placed beside every car door. The kids thought it was a great surprise,” she said.

“I thought it was such a lovely, generous random act of kindness. It definitely made us smile.”

Mr Drewitt, who also spent weeks handing out daffodil pots to locals during Melbourne’s sixth lockdown last year, said a lot of people were still doing it tough.

“Even though Covid may be on the backburner, it doesn’t mean that people still aren’t struggling both financially and mentally after the pandemic,” he said.

“I always have the attitude that if you can change one person’s day then you’ve changed the world.”

Mr Drewitt, who is also a youth worker, said a young bloke, 13, helped him deliver the surprise at Lillydale Lake, running the tulips out and placing them near cars.

He said he plans to make his random acts of kindness an annual event, and still plans to donate hundreds more flower pots this year.

“A lot of people are overwhelmed (when they find the gift); they’re not expecting to come back to their car and find something there,” he said.

“Occasionally someone will break down in tears and sometimes it’s just general appreciation.”

Mr Drewitt said he always had flowers left over at his farm in Silvan, and didn’t want them to go to waste, “when it can go to someone else and bring some joy”.

“Or even if they pass it onto someone else – someone contacted me and said they had one dropped on their doorstop, so (the random act of kindness) continues.

“It centres around mental health and reminding people it’s OK to not be OK.

“You can do the smallest gesture for someone but you never know how big the gesture is for the receiver.

“At your end it might be something tiny but at their end it could change their world.

“That’s the approach I take with it all.”