
PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
Daughter Harper lends a helping hand as Delgado tends to son, Harrison, her plant collection and gardens.
child in 2018 that she told her husband that she didn’t want
to return to work after her maternity leave ended.
“That heartache was too much and the whole first week after
having Harrison, I cried thinking about having to go back
to the office,” Delgado says. “So, we started cutting the budget
but one of the things I could not cut back on was my elderberry
syrup. It was a crucial item in our medicinal toolbox.”
For most working-class families, elderberry syrup is not very
affordable. Delgado’s husband told her she should try and
make some herself. She thought about it and one night when
Delgado and her husband were lying in bed, she says, “OK, let
me get a hundred bucks and I’ll see what I can make myself.”
Delgado made a trip to Nutrition S’mart, purchased the
necessary ingredients and made a large batch of syrup. She
posted a notice on Facebook that she had extra syrup, hoping
to recoup some of her expenses.
“At that point, my good friend, Liz Wickes, told me, ‘You
are not doing this. You are not just going to post a few jars
on Facebook for friends and family. This is a business now,’”
Delgado says. “She came to my house that night and had
me design a logo, helped me create an email address and
website for the business, I filed for my LLC and purchased
business insurance.”
After branding, her business HHH Organics (named after
her three children) took off and friends and family were
quite supportive. Because of its fairly high price-tag, Delgado
points out that, in the past, she would only use elderberry
syrup when she was sick.
“It wasn’t until I had kids of my own, that it became part of
our daily routine,” she says. “We use it to prevent colds since
elderberry works as an immune modulator.”
Immunomodulatory herbs aid in regulating the immune
system. Delgado’s syrup has only 10 ingredients, is high in
vitamin C, polyphenols and antioxidants.
Soon she had family and friends in West Virginia requesting
the product.
“Since I could not ship the syrup across state lines without
special licensing, I came up with the idea to create DIY kits,”
Delgado says. “We have step-by-step instructions and the kits
can fit their own regional needs by adding local honeys to
improve seasonal allergies.”
After the DIY kits, Delgado started using the leftover
‘mash’ from creating the syrups to make a honey-blend with
the dehydrated berries. Most recently, she has been making
elderberry lip balms, body butters and tinctures.
Delgado’s hard work has paid off. On Sept. 3, HHH Organics
held the grand opening for its first storefront in Downtown
Stuart. The brick-and-mortar is to be a wellness-centered
collective for HHH Organics and other local merchants.
“We will feature many products that are eco-friendly and
focused on natural health and wellness,” Delgado says. “For
example, we will have inventory from local honey-maker,
Hani Honey, items from a local candle and soap maker, live
plants and kits to brew your own kombucha that we found
out of Oregon.”
Delgado hopes to continue living a simple and healthful
lifestyle and take the lessons her grandparents raised her on
to bring people together through a natural living collective.
“I want to empower people to take hold of their own health
and wellness and learn that it’s not difficult,” Delgado says.
“It sounds sort of daunting, but we are all capable of bettering
ourselves and supporting one another in those efforts.” E
38 Port St. Lucie Magazine