Even Van Gogh saw sunflowers as symbols of gratitude. Indeed, centuries later, someone had the idea of using the sunflower as an image of compassion.
It was 2016, at a British airport, when the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program was launched. Simply put, it allows someone with a non-visible disability to be seen by airport employees who could then offer assistance.
And now, Boise will become the first city in Idaho to adopt the program.
“It has been used all over the world,” said Jennifer Kronberg, communications and marketing manager at the Boise Airport. “The city intends to rolls this out in other departments, but we are the pilot site because it makes a lot of sense where the program has had so much success sin airports around the world.”
To begin, the Boise Airport is inviting the public to help roll out the program Friday, April 18.
“We’ll be handing lanyards out to travelers who would like to try them,” said Kronberg, adding that even future travelers can get a sunflower lanyard in advance of their own journey.
Kronberg visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about who might benefit from the program, how city employees will be trained in advance, plus she added details about the April 18 rollout.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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