People can help Ukraine make a new contribution through the panels in the center of Prague
By donating, people will also plant a seed of Ukraine’s national flower, the sunflower, in a virtual flower field. Collection Sunflower of hope (Sunflower of Hope) was presented today by representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy, creative agency Dentsu and the Prague municipality on the Prague embankment. The collection began on the day Ukraine commemorates the 31st anniversary of its independence. At the same time, six months have passed today since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to Radim Kameník from the Czech branch of Dentsu, there are now 11 outdoor panels in Prague through which people can donate. “One is on the embankment, then there are a few on Truhlářská street, Na Příkopě, Na Můstek and Palackého náměstí,” he said.
According to the organizers of the collection, the procedure for donating is simple. “Through your mobile phone, via a QR code, you connect to an interactive carrier that invites you to donate certain financial amounts. You choose how much you want to donate on your phone, send the amount of money with a mobile payment, and at that moment you plant a sunflower seed in the ground and right before your eyes (…) it will grow into a full-grown sunflower,” said Kameník. The flower then becomes part of the entire sunflower field. It is also possible to contribute to the collection via the website thesunflowersofhope.com.
The collection is intended to be the pilot phase of a larger project. “The expected duration will be a month, with the fact that then it depends on the embassy of Ukraine if it wants to extend it or not,” Kameník said. In the second phase, the collection could be expanded to other countries and would also target the emotional support of Ukrainians. According to Kameník, there would be a large screen in the center of Kyiv where people could click on the selected sunflower and read the message that the gifts were written during payment.
Chargé d’affaires of the Ukrainian Embassy, Vitaly Usaty, said at today’s meeting with journalists that Ukrainians feel strong support from the Czech authorities, business circles and citizens. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, according to the organizers of the largest domestic collections, people from the Czech Republic have sent more than four billion crowns to support Ukraine, and on and on. The money is used to help victims of wars and refugees and to buy weapons for the Ukrainian army.