As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, images of sunflowers have sprouted up across the world as a display of solidarity for Ukraine.

West Coast Seeds, a popular B.C.-based seed company, is donating sales of sunflower seeds to help humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

For the month of March, West Coast Seeds is donating 100 per cent of proceeds from their online sunflower seed packet sales to the .

The campaign is called sa国际传媒楽unflowers of Supportsa国际传媒� and asks that people purchase and sow seeds of support. West Coast Seeds notes that this only applies to seed packages sold through their website.

The funds donated will go towards preparedness, relief efforts, long-term recovery, resiliency and other humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and surrounding countries, the Red Cross says.

This is similar to a campaign that West Coast Seeds ran during the beginning of the pandemic.

The seed company partnered with Dr. Bonnie Henry and We are the Northern, a Chilliwack-based marketing studio, to create a pollinator blend of cosmos flowers. Proceeds from the seed packet sales went to Food Banks Canada and a total of $225,000 was raised.

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The Sunflower (sunyashniki in Ukrainian) has long been a symbol of peace for Ukraine.

In the summer of 1996, sunflowers were planted by officials at the Pervomaysk missile base in southern Ukraine to mark the removal of nuclear weapons from the country, according to an in The Washington Post.

A states that the sunflower represents the principal oil plant in the Ukrainian economy and Ukrainian agriculture.

According to the book, sa国际传媒楩ifty Plants that Changed the Course of Historysa国际传媒�, sunflower oil is now the worldsa国际传媒檚 fourth most popular oil (after soy, palm and rapeseed), with Argentina, Russia and Ukraine the three largest producers.

The book explains that the sunflower, sa国际传媒渟tarted cultivated life among the North American Indians, was taken to Europe and hybridized in Russia, and then found its way back to the States in the seed sacks of Mennonite farmers escaping Soviet pogroms.sa国际传媒�

Sunflower seeds have also been known as a popular snack in Ukraine.

sa国际传媒淚n addition to the commercial variety, the ornamental sunflower in the villages and countryside of Ukraine has made it an unofficial national symbol,sa国际传媒� reads the encyclopedia. sa国际传媒淚t appears as such on the cover of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine.sa国际传媒�

corey.bullock@cranbrooktownsman.com
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