The Royal Canadian Legion’s 2023 National Poppy Campaign officially begins Oct. 27.
“The letters have already been dropped off at the post office,” says Kelsey Quesnelle, Parry Sound Legion Branch 117 President. “They’ll be mailed around to all the private residences in town. We did 5,000 letters this year, so we should be able to get more houses this year. Last year we only did 3,000.”
Quesnelle says poppy boxes will be going around to all the businesses throughout the weekend starting Friday.
“Then hopefully, we haven’t finalized it yet, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to have the 295 MacPherson Cadets canvassing on Sunday, November 5,” Quesnelle says.
The Legion says that will then lead up to Remembrance Day where they will be holding a ceremony at Market Square Park followed by a luncheon at their headquarters afterwards.
Quesnelle says when someone writes a cheque to the Legion, they have a choice between submitting it to the general fund, which goes towards keeping the local Legion’s building open.
“The other option is they can choose the Poppy Fund which is used for mostly veterans and things that affect veterans. But we can also use the Poppy Fund as well to support cadets and a couple of other groups in the community,” Quesnelle says.