Royal Canadian Legion turns to Amazon for annual poppy campaign support – Brandon Sun

The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans fund and hopes it will expand its donor base in the digital world.

Since the opening of its Amazon.ca store on Oct. 25, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 poppy orders.

Online shoppers can order lapel poppies from Amazon in exchange for donations or purchase items like “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.

Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization saw the move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.

“As the world around us evolves, we’re looking at different ways to distribute poppies and make it easier for people to access them,” he said in an interview.

“This is definitely a way to reach more Canadians of all ages. “And certainly younger Canadians are much more active online and on social media in general, so that’s how we’re engaging.”

Al Plume, a member of a legion chapter in Trenton, Ontario, said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are away from home.

“For veterans who are overseas and are far away or (or) can’t get to a store, they can order online; that’s Amazon.” said Plume.

Plume spent 35 years in the army with the Royal Engineers and retired eight years ago. He said ensuring veterans are well cared for is his passion.

“I saw the struggles our veterans had with Veterans Affairs… and so I got involved to make sure people could reach out to them and help veterans with their paperwork.”

But the message about the Amazon store did not reach all of the legion’s locations; Volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver Commercial Road said they had not heard of the online campaign.

Holly Paddon, the branch’s popping campaign coordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership was never brought up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.

“I work at the legion, I work at the Vancouver poppy office and I go to meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign, which involves all the legions in Vancouver, and it’s never been mentioned once,” he said.

Paddon said the initiative was a great idea, but he wanted to know more about it.

Legion also sells a larger collection of products at poppystore.ca.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.