‘Just wear the poppy and wear it proud:’ K-W Poppy Fund kicks off annual campaign.

The K-W Poppy Fund kicked off its annual campaign at the Royal Canadian Legion Waterloo on Friday.

A short ceremony took place at 11 a.m. to launch the campaign. The flag outside the legion was lowered and replaced with the poppy flag. Poppies were handed out to local politicians, representatives from Waterloo regional police and the Waterloo Fire Chief.

“I think it's just a beautiful spirit of Canada where we take this time to wear a poppy and remember those individuals who have given so much for democracy,” Waterloo Councillor Diane Freeman said, who is also the honourary lieutenant-colonel for the 31 combat engineering regiment.

After a couple of challenging years during the pandemic, the local poppy fund is hopeful for a more traditional campaign where they can raise more funds and awareness.

“Now we can get more into the malls and stuff like that, hopefully, it will help our campaign this year because the veterans need assistance,” said K-W Poppy Fund Chairman Stan Howie. “Our funds have dropped in the last couple of years because of COVID. We couldn't go into the malls and some of these places to do the tagging, to raise money for the poppies and that, it definitely hurt us in the last couple of years.”

This year will see the debut of biodegradable poppies and wreaths.

This year is significant to the poppy campaign as it’s the 150th anniversary of the birth of John McCrae, the poet, soldier and doctor best known for his poem “In Flanders Fields.”

According to Veteran Affairs Canada, McCrae was born in Guelph, Ont. on Nov. 30, 1872, and served as a surgeon during the Second Battle Ypres in the spring of 1915. He later died in January 1918 from pneumonia and meningitis.

“Whether you can donate or not, just wear the poppy and wear it proud,” Howie said.