The Dave Mears Distinguished Service Award is presented to those individuals whose efforts have contributed significantly to the welfare and progress of the floral industry and to the progress of IFD. These individuals, through their distinguished service, have exemplified the outstanding character and leadership of Dave Mears; a founding IFD member and its first President. “Len has always been committed to the idea of wholesale distributors working together, that commitment was a key factor in IFD being established. The accomplishments of IFD and the value IFD provides members today would not be possible without the efforts of Leonard Levy,” stated Dan Andrews, Kennicott Brothers and current IFD President.

For years Len organized a group of wholesalers to visit South American farms; that group of wholesalers became the core group who founded IFD. Leonard Levy has always been a champion for communication and education throughout the wholesale floral industry. “Len was always one to be progressive and was a pioneer in educating wholesalers how to buy from South American farms,” stated Red Kennicott, Kennicott Brothers.

In addition, Leonard served various floral industry associations and was President of WF&FSA in 1995.

Leonard grew Hillcrest Gardens from its humble beginnings in the 1950’s to a leading distributor of flowers and florists supplies serving the New York City and New Jersey markets. Today Leonard’s sons, Eric and Larry, manage the day to day operations of Hillcrest Gardens serving hundreds of retailers and event specialists with cut flowers, plants and supplies. Leonard Levy was a founding member of International Floral Distributors (IFD) and as Billy Hardin, Hardin’s Wholesale Florist said, “Len is really the guy that made IFD happen, he put us (the founding IFD wholesale distributors) all together and got us to work together, that is what made IFD take off”. Today IFD is seen as the leading organization where wholesale distributors work together to effectively create value and improve floral distribution in the United States.