JP LeFloch is giving back after the air ambulance service helped him four years ago
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Motorists driving on Highway 2 near Haywood, Man., about an hour west of Winnipeg, will come across a sign directing them to a sunflower field that’s set up as a selfie station and fundraiser.
Those sunflowers belong to JP LeFloch, who also grows corn, canola, wheat and other crops.
“Planting the sunflowers was a last-minute thing this spring,” he told Farms.com of the 110 acres he dedicated to the crop.
LeFloch borrowed the idea of a sunflower selfie fundraiser from another Manitoba farmer, Dean Toews, who farms near MacGregor.
Toews uses his sunflower fields to raise money for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
In 2021 he collected $2,000 in cash donations and another $20,000 on the sale of the sunflower crop.
Picture seekers stopping at LeFloch’s farm can snap a selfie and are encouraged to make a cash or online donation to Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service, better known as STARS.
He’s also asking that visitors don’t touch the crop.
STARS provides rapid and specialized emergency care and transportation for critically ill and injured patients in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
LeFloch is giving back to STARS after it provided him with care four years ago.
He was doing yard work at his father’s place when the situation became very serious.
“I was cutting a tree down and it pinned me,” he said. “It pretty much disintegrated my leg. I was very fortunate that STARS came out and flew me to the hospital in Winnipeg. I’m doing much better today, and I think STARS coming out to get me as quickly as they did greatly improved my chances of a full recovery.”
The community response has been positive with supportive messages online, LeFloch said.
Anyone interested in visiting his sunflower selfie setup doesn’t have much time left.
“Once the petals start falling off, which could start in the next week or two, and the heads start drooping, the sunflowers won’t look as nice,” he said.
LeFloch also wants to remind people that just because he’s allowing visitors in his fields doesn’t mean people can go into any farmer’s field.
Entering a farmer’s field without permission is trespassing and risks crop damage, he said.