NANAIMO — As the calendar moves into November, focuses shift from Halloween to Remembrance Day, and what Nov. 11 means to those who have served and their families.
The annual poppy campaign for Royal Canadian Legion’s kicked off all across the country, with Branch 256 in Nanaimo always starting their campaign on the last Friday in October.
President Lew Forth said last year’s campaign was incredibly successful as people were coming out of the pandemic.
He said the campaign raised around $55,000 for the East Wellington Rd. branch.
The ability to donate through tap-to-pay with debit and debit cards boosted donations, Forth said.
“There’s a number of people that have asked over the years, ‘oh can you do credit cards?’ and we always said unfortunately we can’t at this time. And then of course last year we brought it out and it was amazing… it seems to be doing pretty good at the one table we have right now.”
There are only a few places in Nanaimo where the tap donation option is available, like the BC Liquor Store in Terminal Park, The Landing Liquor Store at Brooks Landing Shopping Centre, and another tap table which will be rotating around the malls.
Tables with poppy taggers will also be set up at Nanaimo North Town Centre in front of Canadian Tire and London Drugs, as well as another table at Country Club Centre.
There are also around 285 poppy donation baskets sprinkled around the city at various businesses and public buildings.
Forth said volunteers are always needed: you can head down to the Branch 256 Legion at 1630 East Wellington Rd, or give them a call at 250-754-8128.
“We’re thankful to all the people who have been donating towards the poppy fund, it’s a very important part of our Legion. Probably the most important part of the legion is to support our veterans and their families in need and that comes from the poppy fund.”
Lantzville Legion 257 has also started its poppy campaign, with cadets from the 2422 Canadian Scottish Regiment Army Cadet Corps helping them out by manning some of their booths.
They were able to raise $69,914 from Oct. 2020 to Sept. 2021 for their poppy trust, up from $53,199 raised from Oct. 2019 to Sept. 2020.
Legion Branch 76 in Qualicum Beach launched its poppy campaign on Oct. 28 during an event outside the legion at the Cenotaph.
Poppy boxes are now available throughout Qualicum Beach until Nov. 11.
Legions across the country are also making the shift towards more environmentally friendly materials for their poppies, as well as making wreaths out of more natural materials like paper, moss and bamboo.
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