Two weeks out from Remembrance Day, Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 15 in Cochrane officially launched their annual poppy campaign on Oct. 28 to honour Canadian soldiers and raise money to support veterans in Cochrane.
Until Nov. 10, storefronts around Cochrane will have the opportunity to sell poppies from their business. Betty Mazurik, an executive from the Cochrane Legion, said local businesses show their unwavering support for the campaign every year.
“We have an amazing business community,” she said. “I would guess 90 per cent of businesses take a poppy box.”
All the money collected through from the poppy boxes stays in Cochrane. The money goes to programming that supports veterans and their families, senior resident centres, and the army and air cadet groups in town.
After a hiatus due to the pandemic, members from both of Cochrane’s cadet groups can be found outside of stores around town, where they’ll be selling poppies on the weekends.
“They will have a table with poppy boxes, so please support them,” Mazurik said.
The Cochrane Legion thanks members of the business community for their continued support and locals who show their support for Canadian soldiers.
“We cannot be more please with our businesses supporting us,” Mazurik said. “It tells us what a great community Cochrane is, by the support we get.”
Mazurik said the campaign is so well-beloved by local businesses that they even contact the Legion ahead of time to ensure their participation.
“We get people phoning [the Legion] at the beginning of October saying – ‘don’t forget us, put us on your canvassing list, we need a box in our store,” she said. “That’s how important this campaign is to [Cochrane] businesses.”
On Oct. 28, mayor Jeff Genung had the honour of receiving the first poppy from the Cochrane Legion. Afterward, he touted the need to support the campaign.
“Our legion needs our support and our veterans, all those who served our country,” Genung said. “Even those who are serving our country today.”
With the different ongoing military conflicts around the world, Genung said the poppies serve as a reminder for all the lives that have been lost to war and to honour their legacies.
“Wearing a poppy is a small thing we can do to remember all those individuals,” he said. “So, the poppy campaign is something that I have taken very seriously.”
As locals begin to wear poppies as Nov. 11 approaches, Mazurik said she is thankful to see the community show their continued support.
“When I go around town and I see everyone wearing it, [it] just makes me so proud of our community and Cochrane,” she said. “They’re supporting the Legion, our poppy campaign, but more importantly they’re supporting our veterans throughout the years and what they’ve done.”
