Brandy Ledesma plans to make Saturday, Aug. 20, a special day for her three young nieces.

On the birthday of the girls’ late mother, Ledesma’s nieces will wake up that morning to more than 50 painted rocks adorned with sunflowers in their garden bed.

It will be an act of “mommy’s magic,” Ledesma said, that is becoming a tradition and way for the girls to celebrate their mother, who passed away two years ago.

And it’s all thanks to the Whidbey Island Rocks Facebook group.

The community page, founded by Oak Harbor’s Shelly Graham Darnell, has rapidly expanded in both size and purpose since its creation just two months ago.

With 9,508 members and counting, the group is now doing more than encourage the community to paint, hide and find rocks all across the island. Rather, that activity has become the foundation for sharing personal experiences, providing one another with support and bringing strangers together.

Ledesma’s own experience has done just that and more, she said.

On Aug. 20, 2014, Ledesma’s sister-in-law Ashley Huffstuttler stopped on the side of the road in Germany to pick a Sunflower with her husband and their two daughters, Eliza, now 10, and Addie, 9.

Pregnant at the time, Ashley gave birth to her third daughter three days later but never awoke because of complications. She passed away several days later, Ledesma said.

“The girls don’t speak of their mom in the hospital as their last memory, they speak of the day she picked a sunflower,” she said.

Eliza, Addie and Sophie, now 2, came to live with Ledesma soon after, who has made it her goal to make every Mother’s Day and August a happy experience for the girls. Last year, Ledesma helped her nieces plant sunflowers on Mother’s Day, telling them the flowers would bloom by Ashley’s birthday.

But the flowers were lost when the Ledesmas’ sprinklers flooded the yard.

“So at 12 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2015, I planted three grown sunflowers in a pot,” Ledesma said. “The girls woke up to mommy’s magic.

“They cherished that day.”

When August rolled around again this year, Ledesma looked to Whidbey Island Rocks to bring the girls “mommy’s magic.” Last week she posted a request for anyone willing to paint just three rocks with sunflowers for her nieces.

Ledesma received numerous responses, and not just from Whidbey Island Rocks, but also from as far as Snohomish and Port Orchard. “There are so many people reaching out to make this a special event for the girls,” she said.

“I cannot put into words how grateful I am.”

Oak Harbor’s Michelle Tull and Ali Fischer are just two of the many individuals who sent Ledesma hand-painted sunflower rocks. Both say they were more than happy to use their love for art and the Facebook page to help Ledesma.

“I love to help others when I can, and if something as simple as a painted rock makes the girls smile and her happy, then I’m happy,” Tull said.

For founder Graham Darnell, reading through all the pictures and stories, such as Ledesma’s post, makes her day.

“Art is an expression of someone’s thoughts, feelings, imagination, etc.” she recently posted on the page. “It is meant to spur your imagination and evoke emotion.”

Madisun Elizabeth agrees.

Elizabeth is co-founder and director of Pink Parasol Productions, a nonprofit program under the Whidbey Island Arts Council that aims to bring community access to arts and culture at no cost.

Pink Parasol was inspired by Whidbey Island Rocks and decided to organize a community rock-painting party  10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 20 at Sherman’s Pioneer Farm in Coupeville.

While attendees are asked to BYOR, or bring your own rock, painting supplies will be provided, Elizabeth said.

“[I] realized that if a person or family could not afford the painting supplies… then they would not be able to participate,” she said, noting her request for supplies on the Facebook page was overwhelming and widespread.

Other local businesses are also joining the fun, with many offering discounts if individuals find a specific rock, and craft stores like Collage on Pioneer Way seeing rock painting supplies fly off the shelves.

Oak Harbor’s Amy Fulton also decided to ask the Facebook group for help after recently hearing of a family friend facing significant medical costs after being brutally assaulted.

Fulton said she decided to offer painted rocks depicting the Deception Pass bridge to interested members in exchange for a small donation to help Zeke Lujan, the assault victim, and his family in Florida.

“I can’t imagine the stress that this tragedy has put on him and his family,” she said. “I had an idea to paint these rocks for those that really want them.

“All I’ve asked for in return is a small donation to help this family.”

Fulton has raised so far $515 for the Lujan family.

“I’m astonished by the response I’ve received,” Fulton said.

As the group continues to grow, Ledesma said she can’t believe how the community has come together around such a simple activity.

For her family, the group is providing more than just a great craft activity; it is helping her nieces heal.

“I just want the girls to always remember that Sunflower day, their mom’s birthday,” Ledesma said. “That sunflower on Aug. 20 brought their mom so much happiness and also the girls, they will never forget that day.

“If [I] can somehow recreate that day each year it will help them heal.”