Have two hours to spare?
That's all it takes to help a veteran. The Royal Canadian Legion Aldergrove Branch 265 has openings for volunteers to do two-hour stints during the poppy campaign. Volunteers take trays laden with the felted red lapel poppies, as well as silicone bracelets and stickers for children so they don't have a pin, and other Poppy Fund items to local spots so people can make donations. The poppies aren't sold but given out and donations collected.
All the money raised by Aldergrove branch poppy taggers, as they are called, stays in the community to help veterans, either through direct donations for medical help, food or housing, or through charities and organizations that help veterans.
A sign up sheet is in the lobby of the branch at 26607 Fraser Hwy. for anyone willing to volunteer as a poppy tagger. People do not have to be legion members nor connected to the legion to volunteer.
"You don't need a uniform, you don't need anything, you just come and you sign up on our sheet, which is in our entryway and yeah, show up and I'll have the tray ready for you to go," said Laura Cline, branch poppy chair.
The branch serves the east side of Langley and would welcome any helpers.
"We're a little slow with the volunteers, but, you know, the ones that are out there are giving it their best," Cline said.
On weekends, cadets with the 746 Air Cadets as well as sea cadets and army cadets help by tagging.
Watch for Aldergrove taggers at the Otter Co-op, Walnut Grove Save On Foods, Freshco Aldergrove, the liquor store in Aldergrove, and the Murrayville IGA during the Poppy Campaign which runs Oct. 25 (the last Friday of October) to Nov. 11.
The campaign has a short window of time but brings in vital funds for the branch's work to support veterans. Cline said last year poppies raised about $70,000. With money from other fundraisers, the branch distributed about $75,000 to vets and veterans services last year.
Cline expressed concern about the number of people who don't know the significance of the poppy and the Poppy Campaign but she's glad the Langley School District supports the branch, distributing about 30,000 poppies to local schools. Some local private schools also take poppies for their students. Between in-school Remembrance events and the legion poster contest, "It lets them know what the poppy is all about," she noted.
Cline noted that if there are items people want, such as the metal poppies, poppy tote bags, and more, they can stop by the branch and place an order through the catalogue to be delivered to the branch for pick up or the buyer's home.
The Cloverdale legion branch 6 covers the western side of Langley.
