Lethbridge Legion poppy campaign exceeds goal

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on December 23, 2021.

Submitted photo An entry from the intermediate colour poster category in the Legion's annual poster contest.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Legion poppy campaign exceeded its goal for 2021 but the General Stewart branch is going to revisit using QR codes for donations next year.
Glenn Miller, co-chair of the General Stewart branch told media Wednesday that the campaign goal of $90,000 was reached and so far has exceeded that figure by about $3,000.
He also emphasized that donations to the campaign can be given year-round since help for veterans is always needed.
The campaign officially ran from the end of October until Nov. 11, he said.
“The need is year-round,” said Miller.
The Poppy Trust Fund has a very specific set of rules for what money can be used for, Miller said.
The branch has a number of requests it has forwarded on to help veterans. One plan is to purchase an exercise bike for veterans and other residents at the Edith Cavell care facility.
He said the Legion poster contest wasn’t as successful as in past years and the Legion is struggling to find out why.
“We traditionally have two schools that produce a lot of it. This year, you take out those two schools and we had a very small presentation of posters and literary contest entries,” Miller said.
Tom McElhinney, chair of the poppy committee, said the main goal of the poppy campaign, apart from raising money, is to get people to wear the poppy.
“Poppies are actually free and donations are accepted just as an aside. If we were going to do anything next year, it will be to get more and more people to wear the poppy during the campaign, especially the youth” because the future for the Legion lies with the younger generation, McElhinney said.
He added only about five to 10 per cent of donations came via the QR codes.
“This year we introduced QR codes as another way to donate and we did that because we already had a portal set up on our website to accept their donations,” he said.
“We actually feel, having looked at them this year that probably QR codes are better as an information portal rather than a donation portal. So next year, we’re probably going to go text-to-donate.”

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