• Sunflowers have grown in Ukraine since the mid-18th century. They became deeply tied to the countryside, folklore, and art as a sign of the warmth and bounty of the land. 

​

• Ukraine is also one of the world's top producers and exporters of sunflower seeds and sunflower oil, so the flowers are important economically.

 

• Historically, the flower has represented peace. In 1996, defense ministers from the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine planted sunflowers at a nuclear facility in Pervomaisk to mark Ukraine giving up its nuclear arsenal.

​

• More recently, since the Russian invasion in 2022, the flower has come to symbolize Ukraine's willingness to fight to maintain its independence as a democratic nation.

​

• People all of the over world now where sunflowers to show their support for Ukraine.

​

​

We chose to create a sea of virtual flowers for the children of Ukraine as part of the Song Flight initiative. For each $10 donated we planted a sunflower with the name of the child it was planted in honor of. There they spun like a pinwheel around the giant sunflower stage where we held live concerts to raise funds for Ukraine.

​

To date we have planted more than 200 flowers.

​

The video below chronicles some of the work we've been doing in virtual space to support Ukraine.

​