Canadian Legion Poppy Campaign Goes Live on Amazon

A poppy is placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following a Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Nov. 11, 2019. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Canadians can now purchase poppies and other Remembrance Day items on Amazon, as the Royal Canadian Legion teams up with the e-commerce giant.

“We’re always kind of contemplating how best to reach more Canadians and to also make it easier for them to be part of this whole remembrance period,” Legion communications manager Nujma Bond told The Epoch Times.

“They are able to donate $2, $5, $10, or $20, and they can receive lapel poppies delivered right through their door.”

Bond said the poppy campaign usually ships out 20 million poppies each year. The Legion has already reached 10 million through Amazon.

“It’s really taking off. We think that as more and more people recognize that it’s an option that they have, we will see those numbers grow this year and into next year.”

Other items available at the Legion’s Amazon store include pins and red neon poppy signs that can be displayed in a window.

The poppy campaign is a major annual fundraiser for the Royal Canadian Legion and is “instrumental” in helping veterans and their families across Canada, Bond said.

The donations are used for local Legion programs such as making service officers available at branches to help veterans who are looking for assistance.

“It could be that they need to be connected with resources in their communities,“ Bond said. ”It could be that they need some help to fill out the forms that are required in order to receive benefits from Veterans Affairs Canada.“ The availability of the service officers ”really helps to reduce stress in many ways for Canada’s veterans,” she said.

The funds also help veterans who need emergency help, like food or housing.

The Legion’s “Operation Leave the Streets Behind” program sends community members out to find veterans who may be homeless or facing homelessness, “and try to get them the resources that they require and get them the help that they need,” Bond said.

The poppy campaign also supports “Operation Vet Build,” a peer support program for veterans to visit Legion branches and assemble models kits. “It could be a model airplane, a model tank ... a model anything. They can sit and enjoy that sort of camaraderie between veterans,” she said.

‘Poppy Stories’

Teaming up with Amazon isn’t the campaign’s first connection with technology, Bond said.

“Poppy Stories” offers Canadians the opportunity to hear more about veterans, just by scanning a QR code.

“People can go to Poppystories.ca and they can use their smartphone and scan the lapel poppy, and up will pop the story of a Canadian veteran,” she said.

This year, in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the first five stories are about Air Force veterans.

“It’s really a way for people to remember veterans and also learn a little bit more about their personal stories and their passions,” Bond said. “It’s a way to connect more deeply with our Canadian veterans.”

The campaign is run by Legion volunteers from more than 1,350 branches across the country and overseas, according to the organization’s website.

All donations stay at the local level, and all funds raised through the Amazon initiative go back to the Legion, Bond said.

The campaign runs until Nov. 11.

Remembrance Day Traditions

Other Remembrance Day traditions this year include the virtual poppy drop on Parliament Hill and a two-minute “blackout” of digital advertising signs across the country at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, when thousands of advertisers will replace their ads with a message of remembrance for two minutes.

Various prominent buildings will also feature red lighting for the “Remembrance through Light“ initiative, including the CN Tower, the Calgary Tower, BC Place stadium, and Niagara Falls.