Coolamon Rotary Club Secretary John Glassford first came up with the idea after learning the sunflower is Ukraine's national flower.

"I saw a powerful story on Facebook about a brave granny in a town outside of Kiev," Mr Glassford said.

"She was giving Russian soldiers sunflower seeds and telling them to put them in their pockets, saying, 'These will grow when you are dead,'" he said.

Keen to find some seeds of his own, Mr Glassford then tracked down Collingullie sunflower farmer Doug Bruckner.

"I rang him and he said it was a great idea and agreed to donate half a tonne."

Coming in at 16,000 seeds per kilogram, that amounts to a staggering eight million seeds.

Harvested this week, the seeds will then be divided into packs of 40 seeds by members of the Coolamon Rotary Club with help from students at the Coolamon Central School.

After that they will be shipped to Rotary Clubs across Australia.

"I've already received interest from about 20 clubs, including in Wagga, Forbes, Canberra, and even as far north as Bundaberg."

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Mr Glassford said the funds raised will go to those most in need.

"The money will go towards humanitarian relief," he said.

"This is about the civilians, the citizens who are now displaced."

All funds raised will go to the Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) Project for Humanitarian AID for Ukraine.

To help distribute the funds, Rotary is partnering with Caritas Ukraine, an organisation providing on the ground support to displaced families, including emergency food, water, shelter and psychological support.

Mr Glassford said the sunflower initiative is part of a broader Rotary Australia project which began after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

"The project is well set up and since February this year it has raised some $3.3 million around Australia," he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Glassford is optimistic the campaign will take root.

"I'm hoping people will sow these seeds and we'll soon have sunflowers growing all over Wagga, Coolamon and beyond," he said.

Starting in 2014, the war in Ukraine escalated dramatically following the Russian invasion in February.

To donate directly to the relief effort, visit: https://directory.rawcs.com.au/83-2014-15

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