Good Neighbors

For 17 years, Kim and Duane Button have used their farm’s fields of flowers to help families.

A lot of love grows in these farmers’ sunflower fields.

An event that germinated in a single sunflower patch has raised more than $1 million for Make-A-Wish Connecticut. At Sunflowers for Wishes, a yearly celebration at Buttonwood Farms in Griswold, Connecticut, visitors purchase bouquets of beautiful yellow blooms, go on hayrides, picnic and taste Kim Button’s special sunflower ice cream. All the proceeds go to Make-A-Wish.

Kim, who owns Buttonwood Farms with husband Duane, started hosting the farm’s annual event in July, nearly 17 years ago. People started asking what she was going to do with the acre of sunflowers planted across from the farm’s homemade ice cream store. They decided to sell the flowers, along with notecards and T-shirts, and donate the proceeds.

There are plenty of worthy organizations Kim could have helped, but she says Make-AWish was in line with her values.

“Make-A-Wish helps families, and we’re a family,” Kim says. “We thought it’d be a good fit.” And she felt sunflowers were a unique way to raise funds.

Those golden flowers hold different meanings for different people, Kim says. Folks buy them for a variety of reasons, from paying tribute to a deceased loved one to simply creating a pretty bouquet for the dining room table. “Everybody loves sunflowers,” she says, “so we decided to keep doing it.”

Hosting such a big farm gathering—held over nine days last year—is no small feat. Kim, her family and lots of volunteers get out at 6 a.m. each day of the event to pick the flowers that now span 14 acres. The fields are warm, the flowers are heavy and they’re working alongside “a lot of bees,” Kim notes on the farm’s website. But to help so many families, it’s more than worth it.

Wish children and their families often visit during the event, but the Tuesday after Sunflowers for Wishes concludes, Kim extends an invitation to Wish families to spend a day on the farm. The Buttons serve hot dogs and ice cream, offer hayrides and let guests visit cows.

Buttonwood is also a fully operational beef and dairy farm that offers more than 50 ice cream flavors. It hosts other events, like a corn maze.

Kim enjoys meeting people and helping those who need it most—especially the kids. “You know when you’re sick and you’re waiting for the doctor to give you your test results? Imagine a little kid feeling that way,” she says.

“So Sunflowers for Wishes is a good time for them to forget all their troubles and have fun.”

To help so many families, it’s more than worth it.