SUNFLOWER SEED GRANTS: SUPPORTING BLOOD TRANSFUSION IN UKRAINE
Sunflower Seeds Ukraine supports various causes to advance our mission to save the lives and strengthen the resolve of Ukrainian Defenders. We send protective gear, field gear, medical supplies, and provide humanitarian assistance. In addition, we recently launched Sunflower Seed Grants, which provides small seed funding of up to 100,000 UAH (~$2,200 USD) to organizations and individual volunteers in Ukraine for selected projects. Recently, we partnered with UA First Aid to support their Farma Project, which provides blood transfusion kits and associated training to medical personnel. The Farma Project has proven very effective since its inception, and now in 2026 it is the first project to utilize our Sunflower Seed Grant program.
UA First Aid and Farma Project
UA First Aid is a volunteer initiative founded by faculty and alumni of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, the initiative has supported Ukrainian Defenders on the front lines by purchasing and delivering high-quality individual first aid kits, NATO-standard paramedic supplies, and advanced medical equipment. UA First Aid has been providing tactical first aid training for military units and systematically reporting on the delivered assistance.
According to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, more than 60% of preventable battlefield deaths are associated with critical bleeding. Providing blood transfusions at the prehospital stage can therefore significantly improve the chances of survival for wounded service members. One of UA First Aid’s areas of work is the Farma Project, through which they assemble and deliver kits to military units for indirect blood transfusion from a healthy donor directly at the point of care. These kits are provided to stabilization points, medical evacuation crews, field units, and training centers for military medics.
Each kit contains everything needed to perform the procedure, including rapid tests, blood collection containers, catheters, transfusion systems, tourniquets, adhesive tape, and other essential supplies. UA First Aid believes that ensuring timely access to blood on the front lines can save more lives of those risking their lives to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Project Impact
Thanks to the support of our donors, UA First Aid was able to assemble a batch of 100 training kits for practicing skills related to transfusion therapy. This equipment is used in training military personnel and helps medics and service members practice critical procedures in conditions designed to closely replicate real-life scenarios.
Since UA First Aid officially cooperates with the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center—the only state institution authorized to provide this type of formal training to military personnel—the donor support was particularly valuable. The assembled kits were sufficient to meet the needs of all training centers for approximately two months, helping ensure the continuity of training for those who save lives on the front lines.
Feedback From Defenders
Military personnel who have completed the training can request kits for internal training within their units, allowing them to continue practicing the medical procedures needed to work safely and effectively with wounded personnel.
UA First Aid regularly receives feedback both during the training and after the kits have been used in practice. Military personnel most often highlight the kits’ convenience, thoughtful design, and completeness. Every component has been selected deliberately: the team has repeatedly tested the kits together with medical personnel from Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces and refined them based on real needs in the field.
For UA First Aid, it is important that these tools not only support training but also help personnel act with greater confidence in critical situations, when speed and precision can save lives.
