Bronze ($250 – $500)

Minuteman Press
Graphic Solutions
Gumbo Stop Cafe

Silver ($500 – $1000)

Alchemy Theatre
Bullseye Total Media
Level One Fasteners
Marsha Slater – State Farm Insurance
Sip Downtown Brasserie

Representatives of Sunflower Seeds were able to raise awareness about the war in Ukraine resulting from Russian aggression on various media venues. (See photos on pages 7)

Solomia Wilson and John Yeager were interviewed by Amanda Barren on her WV Radio program on April 16. Dr. Sandrine Pierre and Yeager were on WSAZ’s Studio 3 on April 21. Wilson was on WOWK’s Good Day at 4:00 on April 22.

Yeager said, “We were a bit disappointed by the attendance, but the war in Iraq and all the world events have people flat worn-out.” Yeager added, “People are looking to escape the current day realities, but the media venues allowed us to show the power of compassion in what Sunflower Seeds is doing to help save lives.”

The film has received several major awards at international film festivals including:
– The Jury Prize and the Audience Choice Awards at the Brussels International Film Festival
– The Best Documentary Film at the Rome International Film Festival and
– The Jury Award at the Central Scotland Documentary Festival.

Sunflower Seeds is fortunate to have excellent relationships with local media groups. These include WOWK TV and WSAZ TV. We also have the interest of WV Radio and Kindred Communications. These opportunities bring awareness and awareness leads to resources.

Solomia Wilson on WOWK’s Good Day at 4:00 with Merrily McAuliffe

Thanks to the efforts of board member, Solomia Wilson, we made contact with Little Wing Relief Works (LWRW) of Athens, Ohio. Little Wing is run by Holly Dallman out of her thrift store with the mission of “Sending Humanitarian Relief Shipments to People in Need.”

Little Wing is a non-profit that collects and sends a wide variety of products from air compressors to diapers. To date they have sent supplies valued at over $435K across three shipments using 20’ and 40’ containers. The material is sent to Lithuania and then to Ukraine to the UA First Aid.

Sunflower Seeds added medical supplies to these shipments on December 11, 2025, when Dr. Bob McCollister and John Yeager delivered 15 large boxes of supplies there with an estimated value of $5000. We also contributed $500 to the group to help defray the cost of shipping.

Holly Dallman with Little Wing of Athens, Ohio and Dr. Bob McCollister

Our Vision Statement declares, “The larger hope is to create a model that will inspire communities across the Nation and multiply support for the Ukrainian people many times over.”  Thanks mainly to the efforts of our HerdWork intern Ryan Constanzo, our “How To” is nearly complete.

Constanzo used AI to research best practices in non-profit enterprises and John Yeager connected those practices to Sunflower Seeds experience over the past four years. Intern, Colin McCuskey, developed a survey of the board members.  Those reflections will be integrated into the document to add “sparkle” and relevance.

All aspects for the formation of a successful non-profit are addressed. The manual will be be roughly 100 pages.

The manual contains nine chapters as follows:

1. Mission and Vision
2. Legal Formation, Compliance, and Organization
3. Administration and Organizational Setup
4. Banking and Finance: Handling Money Safely
5. Fundraising: Strategy and Diversified Revenue Development
6. Merchandise Brand
7. Newsletter: Building an Email Community
8. Marketing and Relationships
9. Building Strong Community Partnerships and Relationships

 Colin researched potential communities where there may be opportunities to explore starting a non-profit for Ukraine like ours. In addition, Patrick Grace and Yeager made contact with a Wall Street Journal writer who may have interest in this story with the hope to replicate our mission.

We told the reporter that we have calculated that over $150,000,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment is allowed to expire or goes unused in the USA. One positive unintended windfall is that this would reduce the dumping of solid waste medical material into local landfills.

To date, Sunflower Seeds has committed over $14,256 for the purchase of humanitarian aid supplies with partners in Orange, France. In total 13,200 lbs. of aid have been sent over six trips. On April 1, 2026 we sent $3,150 for the purchase of diesel fuel for the seventh trip to Poland.

Jaroslaw, Poland and Orange are “Sister Cities” and four years ago Jaroslaw reached out for help as they were being overwhelmed by refugees. The town is located just 25 miles from the Ukrainian border.