{"id":398,"date":"2022-11-16T22:42:56","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T22:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/?p=398"},"modified":"2023-02-17T16:57:02","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T16:57:02","slug":"beyond-remembrance-the-poppy-does-more-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/writing\/reportage\/beyond-remembrance-the-poppy-does-more-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond remembrance, the poppy does more good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The red poppy is traditionally worn on the left side, above the heart. (Photo by Iris Young\/SAIT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hard to miss amidst the stark white backdrop of Calgary\u2019s most recent snowfall, the red poppy is once again ubiquitous in the days leading up to Nov. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the conversation comes up about the poppy, I say it\u2019s not just an act of remembrance; it\u2019s an act of respect,\u201d said Mike Burgess, command service officer for the Royal Canadian Legion in Southern Alberta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Canada, the poppy is as poetic as it is evocative. In 1915, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer, penned and published a poem for a fallen comrade. Six years later, its vivid imagery inspired Anna Gu\u00e9rin of France to create remembrance poppies out of fabric for charity. Today, the poppy is worn to honour Canada\u2019s troops every year during the Remembrance period, as well as veteran funerals and other commemorative events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Burgess, approximately 20 million poppies are in circulation annually. Wearing the symbol is optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never get upset with anyone who doesn\u2019t want to wear a poppy for any reason because that\u2019s a personal choice,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you are granted freedoms, you\u2019re granted freedoms to choose. If you want to go overseas and risk your life for people\u2019s liberty and their freedoms, you don\u2019t get to tell them what those freedoms are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, most Calgary establishments carry poppy boxes. People receive a poppy pin by donating cash or using the attached tap-enabled devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs far as I know, anyone can buy and wear the poppy to respect the troops,\u201d said Rosalina Cato, a newcomer to Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is, however, no commercial value to the poppy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea of doing this and wearing this is just an act of remembrance,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve done your bit. If you don\u2019t have any funds, you don\u2019t need to make a donation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donations to the poppy fund directly help veterans and their families. It is completely separate from other funds in the legion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe remembrance act for me is not just remembering the fallen,\u201d said Burgess, who also served in the British Army\u2019s 24 Commando Royal Engineers. \u201cIt\u2019s also remembering the people who made it back, who are still living with their injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an executive member of the legion, Burgess encounters veterans suffering from various traumas, both physical and mental, on a daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the things that we use poppy funds for is we help people get their first and last rent,\u201d he said. \u201cWe help them get established. We help them find safe housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A means-testing process determines the eligibility of poppy fund recipients. The legion further helps veterans access resources from Veterans Affairs Canada and other agencies that may be unknown to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen people come to us, we try and treat them with dignity and humility and help them out,\u201d said Burgess. \u201cWhen they know that these funds come from the general public, it means something because it means that people actually care.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The red poppy is once again ubiquitous in the days leading up to Nov. 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reportage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}