(image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

POPPY CAMPAIGN

Annual poppy campaign underway in Kamloops

Oct 25, 2019 | 4:36 PM

KAMLOOPS — Ahead of Remembrance Day on November 11, the Royal Canadian Legion’s annual poppy campaign kicked off today.

Poppy Campaign Chair, Daniel Martin says the historic campaign began in 1921, and each year the money donated in poppy purchases goes towards veteran support services.

“Poppy campaign funds go towards veterans and veterans-associated businesses. We have houses in Victoria and Vancouver that house veterans for a weekend if they need to go somewhere, or meals and stuff like that, we serve that too,” he says. “Anything that has to do with veterans, that’s where the poppy money goes.”

Worn on the left side of the wearer’s chest, the poppy symbolizes acknowledgment of the sacrifices made for the rights and freedoms we’re able to enjoy today.

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“It means a lot to me, because it means people actually care. You talk to people in town and usually 90 per cent of people would be very understanding and very open to wearing the poppies and saying, ‘Okay, I remember the sacrifice that most of our ancestors and the ‘great’ generation as they call it, did for us. And that means that they actually remember and care about what we did for this country.”

Poppies can be purchased at many retailers throughout Kamloops, government offices, and directly from the Poppy Campaign headquarters, located in the business centre at 249 Seymour Street.