The Royal Canadian Legion’s annual poppy campaign has been launched.
The start of the campaign in Amherstburg was held last Friday night and involved most of town council getting pinned with a poppy. It was an expansion of what happened in previous years where it was just the mayor getting pinned.
“This is a time where we come together as a community to support those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom that we have today,” said Royal Canadian Legion Br. 157 president Shawn Wilkie.
Wilkie said the red poppy is a symbol of remembrance and a hope for a peaceful future.
“The poppy is a well-known, well-established symbol,” he said. “Poppies are worn as a show of support for the Armed Forced community.”
Wilkie stated that after the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th Century, the land was left desolate and infertile. Shortly after, red poppy flowers started to grow around the bodies of the fallen soldiers. Again in 1914, the fields of northern France broke out in fighting as World War I began.
“Once the war was over, one of the only plants to regrow were red poppy flowers,” he said. “Poppies then became a symbol of hope and peace with an underlying meaning that the sacrifices of soldiers’ lives was for the greater good.”
Royal Canadian Legion Br. 157 raised $25,958 during its poppy campaign in 2023. One of the largest programs within the Legion nationally is the “Leave the Street Behind” program that helps homeless veterans. Wilkie said that program has raised almost $3 million nationally and rescued hundreds of veterans from the streets. Of those helped, 190 veterans were in the same district as Br. 157.
The Amherstburg Legion donated $2,000 to the “Leave the Streets Behind” program.
The local branch also donated $4,000 to the veterans service dog program, which Wilkie pointed out helps support veterans with PTSD and other such ailments.
“The Southwestern Ontario Military Family Resource Centre is a group that supports military and veteran families. Fort Malden 157 donated $5,000 to this amazing group,” Wilkie said.
Another $2,000 was donated to the St. Joseph’s veterans hospital for the comfort and care of veterans, while $2,500 went to the bursary fund which helps support educational costs of veteran and military family members.
The Quilts of Valour program received $3,000.
“Quilts of Valour is a program where a veteran receives a custom-made quilt for comfort in respect to their years of military service and sacrifice,” said Wilkie. “Fort Malden 157 has presented six Quilts of Valour to veterans in our local community and several more presentations are scheduled in the coming months.”
The local Legion also donated $840 for gift baskets at Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day Day for veterans in long-term care, with another $500 being donated to Camp Maple Leaf. The latter is a summer camp for children of currently serving military personnel.
“Without the great support of our community and businesses, these support programs would not happen,” said Wilkie.
Bob Moore, whose father was a Korean War veteran and a Quilt of Valour recipient, said when they moved to Amherstburg, they immediately felt at home at Legion Br. 157. A display was set up in the front entrance of the branch, and it was the same one Moore’s father Dalton used to fundraise when they lived in Scarborough. Dalton raised $78,000 over the 25 years he did it.
Money raised through the poppy campaign helps veterans, Moore added, and they were able to use Veterans Affairs when Dalton fell ill, needed a nurse and Meals on Wheels. Dalton passed away three months ago.
“Dig deep in your pockets,” Moore urged. “This was a big deal to my dad.”
Mayor Michael Prue was joined by most of town council at the ceremony. He said Councillor Molly Allaire missed it only because she was filling in for him at an event in Windsor.
Poppy campaign officially launched in Amherstburg
By Ron Giofu
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