A red flower symbolizing the cost of freedom will soon be on jacket lapels throughout the Foothills.
Legions across Canada are kicking off their annual poppy campaigns at the end of this month to collect money that supports veterans, from facilitating services to providing temporary funding for housing.
The Royal Canadian Legion Turner Valley Branch #78 kicked off its campaign Oct. 25 with an afternoon ceremony at the cenotaph where poppies were pinned on political delegates and crosses placed with the names of Turner Valley soldiers who were killed in the First and Second World Wars.
Linda Macaulay, poppy chairperson and first vice-president of the legion, said the campaign is both a support to veterans and a reminder to residents.
“What we can’t let the upcoming generations forget is men and women were willing to give up their lives for us,” she said. “This is why we have Remembrance Day and why we wear the poppy. It’s a symbol of remembrance and a source of pride for everybody.”
Macaulay said war is something that no longer weighs on the minds of most Canadians.
“Every day we walk about our daily lives we don’t worry about walking down the street,” she said. “It’s hard for us to imagine living another way because that’s the way we’ve been brought up.”
The poppy campaign is also important is supporting veterans who fought in wars, whether to help them to gain access to PTSD counselling or access medical supplies, Macaulay said.
“The poppy fund supports our efforts in helping veterans and families in the community,” she said. “It facilitates connecting veterans with services like seeing a specialist and providing temporary funding for things like housing support for veterans in need. It is all vetted by a committee.”
For instance, last year’s fund provided temporary funding to one veteran whose furnace quit in the middle of winter, another who needed a hearing aid and some who needed treatment at a clinic to treat PTSD, Macaulay said.
More than 70 collection boxes with poppies will be at stores throughout Black Diamond, Turner Valley, Longview, Priddis and Millarville, as well as the Millarville Christmas Market Nov. 7-10 accepting donations, said Macaulay.
Money raised throughout the three-week campaign will go into a trust fund to support veterans and their families, as well as school bursaries, the literary poster and essay contest, local cadet groups and medical equipment for the Sheep River Health Trust.
Last year’s campaign raised $13,500.
A Remembrance Day ceremony will be held at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond Nov. 11 at 10:30 a.m.
