'Sunflowers under the sun': Local farmers use sunflower patch for charitable cause

A couple in Thamesford, Ont. are opening up their farm to sunflower lovers in an effort to raise money for a cause close to their heart.

Sunflowers are in bloom at Alex and Florence Steele’s farm on 19th Line, where they’ve spent the last 50 years.

“We’ve grown just about every crop under the sun and now sunflowers under the sun,” chuckled Alex Steele, who owns the farm with his wife, Florence.

“Anyway, we are going to give this a go,” he said. “We’re happy the way they turned out.”

Now they’re inviting people to stop by and see the sunflowers for themselves, while trying to fundraise for people struggling with food insecurity.

“We hear about other countries and they only have a small patch of food and this is how they feed their families,” added Florence. “I just thought, ‘Hmm…we have this. We can do something,’ and we did.”

“They’ve always been big supporters of Canadian Foodgrains Bank so this was a way that they could raise some funds for our organization,” said Henry Reinders, the regional representative for Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

He added, “They’re in the process now of setting things up to either have people come and pick their own sunflowers or perhaps take some pictures with the sunflowers.”

The organization and its members work to alleviate hunger in countries across the globe, Reinders explained, as the need for access to affordable food continues to increase.

“In part because of war and conflict, there’s more of that which seems to be happening, people get displaced for their homes and land and so they have to find sources of food,” he said.

The Steeles said they don’t currently have a fundraising goal, but they would appreciate anyone able to donate.

The farm will be open for visitors from Wednesday - Saturday from 8 a.m.- 7 p.m.

If successful, they’re considering making the fundraiser an annual event.

“This year we decided this is such a good area we are going to try something new, and next year it will probably be bigger and better,” Alex said.

People interested in donating can do so in person at the farm or donate on the Canadian Foodgrains Bank website.