Command Poppy Chairman Ronn Anderson presented Lieutenant Governor Janice Filmon with the first Poppy of 2017 at the Manitoba Legislative Building today.

The event marked the beginning of the annual Poppy campaign.

Poppies will be available to the public on Friday Oct. 27, 2017 and Anderson says they ask people to wear them until sundown on Remembrance Day.

“The Poppy honours the memory of those who sacrificed their lives,” Anderson said. “It’s a symbol of people’s remembrance of those who gave something up for the freedom in our country today.”

Anderson says wearing a Poppy is much more than a symbolic gesture, as all the money raised during the campaign goes to programs that help veterans and their families in need.

“It goes to things like Meals on Wheels or programs that help with hospital comforts for veterans and their families,” Anderson said. “It all goes to them.”

In addition to being the Command Poppy Chairman, Anderson is also the President of Manitoba/Northwest Ontario Command of the Royal Canadian Legion and the President of the St. James Branch.

He says Winnipeg has 17 Legion branches and the St. James branch alone gives out approximately 70,000 Poppies every year.

“It gives you a good feeling seeing everyone wearing them, especially the young ones” Anderson said. “I’ve made a lot of presentations to schools where our biggest supporters are the children and they’re learning at an early age about what the Poppy means to them and the country.”

According to Royal Canadian Legion terminology, a veteran is someone who is serving or has served in the Canadian Armed Forces or the RCMP.

For more information on the Poppy campaign, visit legion.ca.