Many people had a role in successful Poppy Campaign
Once again we want to thank the residents of Truro, County of Colchester and surrounding area for their generosity during our Poppy Campaign. We would also like to thank the members of the poppy committee, the Ladies Auxiliary and the countless volunteers who spent many hours preparing for, and raising funds for this poppy campaign.
We would like to take this time to publicly thank those individuals and organizations that continue to help with the campaign year after year. This year I want to thank 150 local merchants and organizations who allowed us to put our poppy boxes in their stores. The space they provide is invaluable to our cause. In addition, the local churches, that allow us to join in their Remembrance Services for our annual church parade are to be commended for their dedication. Thanks to the Peoples
Church for hosting us this year and Pastor Michael Fredericks of Immanuel Baptist for the prayers at the Cenotaph.
Ken Henderson and the Truro Concert Band never fail to provide us with quality music during the Ceremony. Chris Chapman has been our bugler for over 20 years and is greatly appreciated. Bette Pring and the First Baptist Girls’ Choir led us in Oh Canada and God Save the Queen. The Colchester Legion Pipes and Drums lead our parade in fine fashion and provide a great rendition of the “Lament.” The 1st Battalion Nova Scotia Highlanders train our sentries, provide the saluting base and join in the parade. Truro Police ensure the safety of our parade route and gathering at the Cenotaph. The Town of Truro has provided the community with a wonderful venue for the ceremony. The sound technician ensures that all gathered can hear the ceremony in their stores. There are many others that could be mentioned here but just remember that your contribution, no matter how large or small is of great value to our veterans and local youth.
This year we were honoured to have another service dog, Liston and a veteran of the RCMP, Troy Maxwell, at the Cenotaph.
Our Ladies Auxiliary, who kicked off the campaign for the first two days with their volunteers and three local cadet corps raised more than $8,000. We also had many volunteers cover more than 300 shifts over a period of 14 days at the following locations: Giant Tiger, Truro Mall, Walmart, Sobeys (both locations), Canadian Tire, Superstore and Superstore NSLC. Total funds raised from this campaign will again exceed $50,000 which leaves us well positioned to assist our local veterans and youth.
Thank you to the local businesses, fire departments, police services, churches and individuals for honouring our veterans by purchasing wreaths and making donations. Local support for our veterans is outstanding as evidenced by the attendance at the Cenotaph on November 11 (estimated at more than 3,000). Your participation as a community is unparalleled. Once again a lot of credit for our success must go to our local school programs as the youth of this community will give us a future of remembering.
Funds raised during the Poppy Campaign were distributed to needy Veterans and Youth in our community. Funds raised this past year were distributed to veterans in need of short-term assistance, homeless veterans and British Empire Service League veterans overseas ($6,000). In excess of $22,000 went towards the youth in our community in the form of post-secondary education bursaries, poster and literary competitions and funding for the Cadet corps that assisted during the poppy campaign. An additional $10,000 was used for the purchase and training of a service dog to assist an RCMP veteran.
We were also proud to participate in Remembrance programs at more than a dozen local schools and six nursing homes in our area.
Again, thank you from Colchester Branch 26 Royal Canadian Legion President, Executive and Members for your kind donations.
Murray Dawson, Chairman 2019 Poppy Campaign, Branch 26 Royal Canadian Legion