The timing couldn’t have been better.

Steve Hoyt of Lawrence recently was returning from the funeral service of a friend who’d passed away when he discovered something unexpected: a flock of hot pink, plastic lawn flamingos festooning his yard.

“It was just a little after 5 o’clock. I was really kind of down in the dumps. Then I pull up my driveway, and here’s all these pink flamingos,” Hoyt said. “I couldn’t believe my eyes; it was amazing. I took a couple pictures. There was a nice arrangement, a little tight-knit group up front.”

Far from being upset or annoyed by the sudden appearance of the kitschy birds, it proved just the thing Hoyt needed to lift his spirits.

“It was hilarious, I was completely surprised. Then I spent the weekend not being able to find out who did it,” he said.

Hoyt is just one of dozens of Lawrence residents who recently have “gotten flocked,” emerging from their cars or homes to find a gaggle of 2-foot-tall, spindly-legged lawn ornaments brightening their yards.

It’s the result of an unusual and highly successful fund-raising activity by the dozen or so members of the senior high youth group at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 2211 Inverness Drive.

For $10, the students will speedily, and as surreptitiously as possible, arrange a flock or two of the flamingos on the yard of your choice.

People around town are flocking to this opportunity to surprise friends or relatives on their birthdays, anniversaries or just for no reason at all.

Brittany O'Donnell, 15, places a flamingo in the yard of Martha Perala as part of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church's fund-raiser. The church's senior high youth group has raised 70 to help pay for a trip to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Youth Gathering in Atlanta.

Since the first day of spring break, the young people have done 97 “flockings,” raising $970 for the youth group.

The money they raise will go toward paying the travel costs for the group to attend the July 23-27 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Youth Gathering in Atlanta.

The Good Shepherd group hopes to raise $2,100.

“We’re going to keep going until there’s nobody left to flock. We’re going to flock everybody in Lawrence,” said Janice Loux, the youth group’s adult sponsor.

Word spread quickly

The Lawrence youth group isn’t the first to employ lawn flamingos for fund-raising purposes.

It’s an idea that’s also been used, typically by youth organizations of different kinds, elsewhere around the nation.

Good Shepherd Lutheran church uses from 16 to 23 flamingos for a typical flocking. The lawn ornaments are 2 feet tall.

“One of the mothers (of a member) from our group, Lorna Larson, went to a church up in Iowa. Their youth group was doing a fund-raiser: ‘If you pay us $10, it’s flocking insurance we won’t flock you if you pay us,'” Loux said. “We wanted to put a positive spin on it. We decided it would be a congratulations: ‘Someone cared enough to flock you.'”

In the spring, the youth group went online and bought two flocks of plastic flamingos from GetFlocked.com, a site that sells lawn birds of the original design from the late 1950s.

Sixteen of the flamingos cost $85. The group purchased 32 of them, and a donor gave them three more. (They’re down to 23 now because people are stealing them.)

Then the group’s members spread the word about their fund-raiser, placing flyers in Good Shepherd’s church bulletin and making sign-up lists available after Sunday services.

The idea quickly caught on, and word spread.

Now the flockings have moved far beyond church members, and the youth group is being paid to flock people who have no ties to Good Shepherd.

The youth group meets at a given location, hastily assembles the fake fowl on a recipient’s lawn and affixes a card with a bow around one bird’s neck, explaining that the residence has just been flocked.

But no clue is given as to who paid for the appearance of the birds.

The youth group comes to collect the flamingos 24 hours later.

“When we go to get them out of the yards, people go, ‘Oh, do you have to take them? Can’t they stay another day?’ How can you not love hot pink flamingos in your yard?” Loux said.

Better than bake sales

Members of the youth group like flocking people.

“I think it’s great; it makes a lot of money, plus everybody enjoys it. It’s a fund-raiser that doesn’t take a lot of effort, but it’s effective,” said Meghann Lilley, 16.

“We get a lot of comments that it’s such a great idea. People are kind of surprised, but they think it’s fun, because there are flamingos in their yard.”

The group gets orders for more flockings almost every day. And those who’ve been flocked are the best source of new customers, turning around to flock others.

“Just about every house we’ve flocked has ordered more flockings. Normally, people are pretty accepting, and they like it,” said Ryan Childers, 16.

Gail Bossenga, a professor of history at Kansas University, is among those who’ve gotten flocked.

“I knew about the flamingos, but I didn’t know who bought them for me,” said Bossenga, a member of Good Shepherd. “I don’t have any idea; it could have been anyone in the church. It’s a friendly kind of feeling. They’re just funny pink flamingos.”