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Royal Canadian Legion launches annual poppy campaign across Canada

By Matthew Murray [1]

BELLEVILLE – Over 1,400 branches of the Royal Canadian Legion [2] helped kick off the organization’s annual poppy campaign across Canada last Friday.

During the campaign, the Legion asks Canadians to wear poppies as a visual pledge to support Canada’s veterans and to never forget those who gave their lives for our freedom [3].

The Royal Canadian Legion holds the fundraising drive from the last Friday in October until Remembrance Day. Poppies are available at Legion tables and poppy boxes throughout the community. While the Legion gives the poppies out free, it does ask for donations to the Poppy Fund [4].

The money collected goes toward caring for Canada’s veterans and their families. This includes covering food, housing and medical costs for veterans who need assistance, educational bursaries for children of veterans and promoting remembrance activities across Canada. Over 21 million poppies [5] were given out in 2015, and over $17 million was distributed to veterans from the money raised in 2014, the Legion says.

More to come.