Legion's poppy campaign facing shortfall in Charlottetown, Stratford

The Charlottetown Legion is bracing for a big hit to its poppy campaign this year, due to the pandemic.

"We normally put out 700 to 1,000 cans," said Bill Toussaint, president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch #1 in Charlottetown. "This year we put out half the amount. We have fewer volunteers."

Elderly veterans are not volunteering as in past years, according to Toussaint, in order to protect their health during the pandemic. And the legion itself is not allowing veterans to staff donationtables in person, in local stores and malls, to protect them from COVID-19.

"All the legion members are getting older," said Toussaint. "The older volunteers were the ones who sat in the malls,which they can't do this year."

Some local retailers are simply making cash donations to the poppy campaign to help make up the short fall. Other stores, that do have donation cans and trays of poppies, say people are donating as always.

"We ran out of poppies so we had to call the legion for more poppies," said Sam Yazdnai, owner of Downtown Convenience in Charlottetown.

"Even with COVID, people are still putting money in."

The Charlottetown Legion typically raises more than $70,000 from donations in Charlottetown and Stratford. The money supports local charities to help veterans and their survivors.

This year, fundraising could be down by half, according to Toussaint. They'll know in a couple weeks, after they finish collecting cans and counting the cash.

Toussaint served two tours of duty with the Canadian Armed Forces on peacekeeping missions in the Middle East.Heregrets that Charlottetown residentshave fewer places to pick up a poppy this year, he said, but that doesn't change how people feel.

"As long as people remember our veterans, that's mostly what counts."

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