For 100 years Canadians have been proudly displaying a poppy over their heart to reflect their thanks to veterans in the lead-up to Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.
The familiar pin has become a symbol of remembrance for those that served to protect the country's rights and freedoms and 2021 marks its 100th year supporting veterans in Canada.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 15 president and District 5 Commander Karen Bruens said that it's difficult to measure just how much the symbolic flower has done for veterans over the last century.
"For 100 years the poppy has been helping our veterans and been there for our veterans," Bruens said. "The poppy campaign has lasted that long and is made up strictly of volunteers."
In Cochrane, the poppy campaign provides donations to the local cadets, the army and the Air Force, veterans home such as the Bethany Care Centre, STARS and the University of Alberta's Heroes in Mind, Advocacy and Research Consotrium (HiMARC), which is a collaborative initiative and provincial hub designed to assist military members, veterans, public safety personnel and their families with developed solutions to improve their resilience, growth, health and mental wellbeing.
Last year the Legion's Cochrane Branch #15 raised around $57,000 through the poppy campaign, said Bruens, despite some of the barriers of getting volunteers into the community due to the pandemic.
The Legion also helps RCMP members and families of those who have served when they are in need, she added.
"Something that a lot of people don't realize is that the veteran may be gone but the spouse may be on his/her own living in their home and having a hard time of it," she said. "The Legion is there to help that person."
The communal aspect of the Legion is arguably just as important as serving any monetary needs, Bruens said, it is one of the reasons The Royal Canadian Legion started to begin with.
"It's a place for those to go that have seen different things that they didn't want to talk to their families about but they could talk to their cohort," she said. "The Legion is made up of people that are there to try and help the veterans and work with them but there's also a big social aspect to it."
Canada was first introduced to the Remembrance poppy in 1921, through an idea conceived by Madame Anna Guérin of France. Inspired by John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields," Guérin founded a charity and raised money by selling poppies made of fabric to help rebuild regions of France torn apart by the First World War.
Guérin would then go on to present her idea to France's allies, including the precursor to The Royal Canadian Legion, The Great War Veterans Association, who adopted the poppy in a meeting on July 6, 1921.
The design of the poppy lapel pin that was first worn then has now been made into a commemorative replica pin available for the symbolic flower's 100th anniversary exclusively through local Legion branches and on the The Royal Canadian Legion's national website for $10.
Canada Post will also be releasing a unique stamp later in the fall and the Royal Canadian Mint will release a commemorative coin and several Canadian landmarks will be lit up to mark the anniversary - including the Calgary Tower.
Bruens said the poppy, for her, also serves as a reminder of how lucky we are as Canadians.
"We've never had war on our soil," she said. "It makes us think about the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War. We've had the Gulf War where we've actually had Canadians in it. It just brings it home that that's why we have a free country."
