Despite the pandemic’s challenges for a second year, Moose Jaw’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 59 raised nearly $50,000 during this year’s poppy campaign, which will support the needs of community veterans.
The legion raised $47,432.21 between Oct. 29, when the campaign kicked off and the culmination of Remembrance Week on Nov. 11. This funding came from the sale of wreaths, poppies, merchandise, masks, and donations.
“For our second Covid year with a few less restrictions than we had last year, I think we did quite well,” said Sue Knox, secretary-treasurer of the poppy campaign committee.
Despite not having a large Remembrance Day service again this year, that total is roughly the same as last year, she continued. People bought wreaths to place at the cenotaph, but with no public service, that cut down on those sales. So, the legion relied on selling poppies and related items to generate most of the income.
The distribution of trays with poppies and sale of wreaths both went smoothly this year, while the volunteers who delivered them were thrilled to be out in person speaking with business owners, Knox said. This face-to-face interaction helped drive sales, compared to last year when the campaign was conducted mostly by phone.
“It’s a much more personable thing to do. You get a better explanation, and new business owners who aren’t used to people calling in for donations — it’s easier to explain yourself in person when you’re face to face,” she pointed out.
The legion received many calls from business owners who said they wanted poppy trays and had not had them before. Furthermore, there is now a list of businesses that want trays for next year.
This additional support is great since the more shops the legion can bring on board and the more trays it can distribute, the better the campaign will go, Knox continued. Extra trays also help promote the campaign, even though the initiative speaks for itself because of its longevity.
“I think the public appreciates seeing the trays in businesses because they know that the businesses are supporting the legion and veterans in the city,” she added.
While the legion handled the poppy campaign well this year, Knox noted that the organization will need more volunteer help in 2022. The pandemic made it difficult to bring out volunteers, so Knox thinks the legion will have to ask for support much earlier before the campaign starts in October.
Dominion Command — the national legion headquarters — sent eight “Pay Tribute” electronic boxes to Moose Jaw this year, which provided residents with a touchless, digital way to donate money.
Although Knox did not have the total from those tap boxes, she pointed out that people liked using their credit cards to donate instead of digging for coins or cash. The tap boxes also provide security and prevent people from stealing money.
The legion still plans to keep its cash boxes for the poppy campaign because it does not have the room to store the digital boxes. Furthermore, Dominion Command wants every branch that received the tap boxes to send them back to Ottawa for safekeeping anyway.
Overall, the poppy campaign was a great success, with the sale of merchandise such as poppy masks a big hit, Knox added. The legion also sold roughly 500 black metallic pins that go in the centre of the poppies and had to order more from Regina.
