Macon florist selling sunflowers to raise money for children in Ukraine

MACON, Ga. — You can never go wrong with buying someone flowers. What if you could buy them knowing the money was going to a good cause?

One Macon florist is using the beauty of his bouquets to raise money for children in Ukraine.

“We’re selling sunflowers for $5,” Jon Mayer said.

$5… that’s all it takes to make a difference.

Mayer is the owner of Lawrence Mayer Florist, he says although sunflowers are beautiful, that’s not why they picked this specific flower to sell.

“Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine,” Mayer said.

Mayer says when he heard about what was going on in Ukraine, he had to do something to help immediately. So, they came up with this idea, and let the power of social media run its course.

“100% of the $5 goes to save the children, or UNICEF, and we, Lawrence Mayer florist, kick in another $5. So for each one it’s really $10,” Mayer said.

Mayer says since the post, the sunflowers have been in high demand. 

“Right now we’re getting a little low, we have another order coming in. I think we probably don’t have more than 20 or 30, but we have sold 187 so far,” Mayer said.

Which means, $1,870 has been donated so far. 

“This shows a real spirit of compassion in some people,” Mayer said.

Mayer says this is exactly what they wanted, and they don’t plan on stopping the fundraiser anytime soon. 

“We’re just going to do what we can, you know? We’re just going to do it as long as people keep responding. We’re kicking in half of the money and we’re going to keep doing it as long as people are willing to do it,” Mayer said.

And he encourages every floral shop to do the same.

Just to break down what a difference every dollar makes… the organization ‘Save the Children’ shows that $100 could help supply a month’s worth of food to a Ukrainian family in crisis.

The floral shop is located at 608 Mulberry Street.