A sunflower field is flourishing at a farm 100 miles west of Riga, the Latvian capital, near Kuldiga.
“You can see here, all the flowers are full with honeybees, on the bigger flower on this side, and also the bumble bees are flying here,” said Volker Hoeppner, a farmer and director of BiAGRO, an agriculture company that’s part of an effort to raise money for Ukraine using sunflowers and social media.
For the past few years, Hoeppner has planted fields of Ukraine’s national flower.
“People can come make nice photos, they can share these photos in social media, and then they can cut some flowers [and take them] home,” he said.
When visitors come by to enjoy the sunflowers and take pictures, they can also donate to the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital that was severely damaged because of a recent Russian airstrike. Next to the sunflower field is a sign with information and a QR code that Hoeppner says people can scan to make a donation.
Hoeppner’s field is one of 32 locations in Latvia where farmers have volunteered to plant sunflowers and raise money for Ukraine.
Lauma Vētriņa was happy to donate during a recent trip to one of the farms participating in the campaign.
“My older sister wanted to take photos there, so I thought we should donate if we use it for a photoshoot. We took flowers with us, so we donated a little money for this charity,” she said.
Volker Hoeppner moved to Latvia from Germany in 2001. He said that since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, he’s participated in multiple fundraising campaigns for Ukraine.
“I think we must help them,” Hoeppner said. “It’s not far, it’s near, this war, and I think it’s very important to help people.”
According to a recent opinion poll conducted in Latvia, most Latvians agree with him: Most believe the country should maintain or increase its assistance for Ukraine, and about 40% have donated to support Ukraine or Ukrainian refugees.
Vētriņa said that when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, there was a lot more activism around Ukraine. But now, she says, things have changed.
“Yeah, if I have the ability to help them, I will, but I don’t have a big wallet to donate a lot of money,” she said. “So now, yeah they help but not that much as the beginning.”
But these fundraising efforts for the children’s hospital, Vētriņa says, feels different and resonates with her more personally.
“Children are the most precious things,” she said. “I have a daughter almost 2 years old. They are like our lives, our future.”
Farmers like Volker Hoeppner hope to keep protecting that future, one sunflower at a time.