Eric Tanouye gathered all the white and light-colored flowers he could find. He was told Samoan custom dictates white flowers for funerals. He packed several thousand orchids and anthuriums, the best his company had, and sent them to Samoa. He's waiting to hear if they need more.

"This is how we can be there and help and maybe send some aloha," said Tanouye, vice president of Green Point Nurseries, founded in Hilo in 1957 by his father, Harold, now 74.

Soon after the Sept. 29 tsunami in Samoa, Tanouye got an e-mail from a customer, Island Flowers by Liana in Fagaalu, American Samoa. Owners Pete and Donna Gurr wanted to donate funeral flower arrangements to families who lost loved ones in the disaster. In their town alone, there were 32 deaths. The Gurrs lost more than half the plants in their greenhouses, but were able to come up with enough greenery. But they needed flowers, so they asked two of their suppliers, Green Point in Hilo and Mayesh Wholesalers in Los Angeles, for help.

"I talked to my dad, the people in our company, my family and we all said this is what we should do," Tanouye said.

Of course, in Hilo, there is a deep understanding of a tsunami's devastation.

Tanouye doesn't remember the Hilo tsunami of 1960. He was 2 years old at the time. But his parents tell vivid stories of hearing the waves crumbling buildings and people screaming in the dark night. At one point, Tanouye's father stood with a flashlight outside their living quarters above the family business and called out in the darkness, telling people to come toward his light. Tanouye's mother fled with him and his younger sister to higher ground. He's heard stories of the horror of that night and how the community came together to rebuild Hilo.

Six large cases of flowers from Hilo were sent to Samoa last week. "Hawaiian Air gave us a large discount on the freight, so we were very grateful for that," Tanouye said.

In Fagaalu, Island Flowers will make casket sprays to give free to families holding a funeral for a loved one who died in the disaster.

"The staff at Island Flowers, as well as their friends at Greenpoint and Mayesh extends their deepest sympathy and prayers to all the families who have suffered losses during the tsunami," read an Island Flowers press release posted on samoanews.com.

"We just wanted to do what we could," Tanouye said.