The Preacher’s Daughter Café will be the location for a special fundraising art exhibit Sunday, April 24, benefitting the people of Cherkasy, Ukraine.

The event will be organized by the Santa Rosa Rotary Club, on behalf of the Cherkasy Rotary Club — Cherkasy and Santa Rosa are Sister Cities. Event organizers are hoping to feature approximately 50 artists from the Bay Area, and the art will consist of their rendition of sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine.

According to an entry in the 1993 Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Spaniards brought sunflowers from the New World to Europe in the early 17th century. The flowers were subsequently introduced in Ukraine in the mid-18th century. Ukrainians snacked on the flower’s seeds or crushed them into oil. Used in cooking or exported to other countries, the oil proved popular in the Eastern European country. Today, sunflowers are a key component of the Ukrainian economy, with Ukraine and Russia contributing upward of 70 to 80 percent of global sunflower oil exports. The flowers are abundant across Ukrainian villages, gardens and fields.

Given the extensive destruction of cities, including local hospitals throughout Ukraine: Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkov, Nikolaev, Kherson, and Mariupol, the Rotary Club of Cherkasy-Centre, through its foundation, has identified an urgent need to provide first aid to the victims injured from casualties of war or needing to be transported to the nearest cities with operational hospitals.

Proceeds of the event will go to the Cherkasy General Hospital and smaller medical facilities in the area, as well as towards humanitarian efforts to feed, clothe, and shelter those affected by the war. The Santa Rosa Rotary Club will collect the funds on behalf of the Cherkasy Rotary Club and earmark them for the designated humanitarian efforts.

“We are in dire need of the world’s help,” wrote the Cherkasy Rotary Club in a press release. “We ask of friends of Ukraine and simply not indifferent people for your kind financial contributions.”

The event will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Preacher’s Daughter Café is located at 1629 Park St.

For more information on the event or to donate directly to help Ukraine humanitarian efforts, visit www.santarosarotary.com.