It’s a well-known sight this time of year: A volunteer standing outside of a local store with a tray full of bright red poppies.
And while most people immediately ante up a few coins or bills and pin the poignant flower onto their lapel, how exactly their donation is used is often unknown to them.
The answer is pretty simple, says Royal Canadian Legion Branch 147 first president and local poppy campaign chair Fern Taillefer: It's to help local veterans.
“The money goes to any veteran in need. For example, if someone needs medical equipment like a special bed or chair to help them get up and down, walkers, wheelchairs, etc.,” he told BarrieToday. “Unfortunately, we do have our veterans who are homeless so we help them find an apartment and we give them first and last month’s rent, which can be pretty steep.”
If a local veteran is staying in the hospital, the funds can be used to cover the cost of parking for their loved ones, or a ride to a medical appointment, or to assist with the cost of groceries.
“That’s where the money goes, to all of these different types of things that people can’t afford to do on their own. The Poppy Fund is there to help subsidize that. My way of thinking, as a veterans service officer, I get to speak to a lot of these people who are in need big time. If I have the money, I am going to help them, end of story,” said Taillefer, who's a retired military veteran and former military police officer.
With so many veterans in need of assistance, Taillefer said the money doesn’t necessarily go as far as they’d like, telling BarrieToday they have used up most of the approximately $140,000 raised from last year’s campaign.
“We were draining our account very quickly,” he acknowledged.
But it’s always money well spent.
“I helped this one guy with rent, gas, food vouchers … this adds up. Things are so expensive. It doesn’t go very far,” added Taillefer. “These are the people that need help and need it right away, and they come to the legion for that help.
"We have an aging group of veterans. The average age for World War Two veterans is 100! We still have a lot of veterans left from then and they’re going to need help. That money has to come from somewhere.”
A lot of veterans are simply trying to make ends meet, added Michel Cormier, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran and vice-chair of the poppy campaign.
“The weirdest part is most of them have so much pride that they have to have their back to the wall before they will come and ask … and most of the time it’s someone else that (asks for them). It’s really difficult,” said Cormier.
“We do everything in combat and then you get home and you can’t even feed your family? A lot of businesses won’t hire someone if their resume says they were military," Cormier added. "They’ve heard so much about PTSD that if you say on your resume that you were in the military … they’re afraid because they don’t know … will that PTSD kick in?
"Everybody who has been in the military has some kind of PTSD. It doesn’t mean you’re not functional or can’t do the work. I have my own, but it doesn’t affect how I do.”
The poppy campaign is the largest fundraiser of the year.
“The legion is for the veterans and the veterans need help,” said Taillefer.
This year, Cormier said they purchased 60,000 poppies, which are being sold by volunteers around the city and on countertops at local businesses.
Approximately 13,000 poppies were provided to local schools, as well, he said, adding that as of Nov. 6, they had less than 5,000 poppies left to go before they are completely sold out.
In addition to assisting local veterans and their families, the Barrie Poppy Campaign donates to many local organizations in the community and have included the Royal Canadian Legion's “Poppy” Hospital Fund, Hospice Simcoe, homeless veterans, charitable foundation, and Royal Canadian Legion Operation Service Dog, to name just a few.
