The poppy count has been slow since Friday’s launch. In fact, it was so slow that I ended up counting poppies I saw on tv screens (mostly News & hockey games) on Friday and Saturday. I also counted the poppies we saw on people at the Oiler’s hockey game on Sunday.

I had thought that counting poppies at a venue with over 10,000 people in attendance would result in a ridiculously high number and a donation tally that we couldn’t afford to pay.  That’s why I’d placed a caveat on our poppy count plans; planning not to count at designated sporting events we’re attending between the poppy launch date and Remembrance day. 

That wasn’t the case at Sunday’s game. We’ll revisit the non-counting policy at giant venues while at the Esks game on Friday.

Current poppy count stands as follows:

• Oct 28 = 14
• Oct 29 = 15
• Oct 30 = 34

Donation tally, as of yesterday, is only $6.30 (per charity).

Of all the places we’ve lived, Edmonton has been the most pro-military and supportive community. I’m hoping to start seeing an increase in poppies worn over the next few days.

launched today…

Per the press release, poppies will be available for sale to the general public on October 28th.

Edmonton, you’re on notice. I’ll be counting poppies beginning on Oct 28th to determine what the $$ amount of my charitable donations to Movember, Kids Need to Read, Boomer’s Legacy, WoundedWarriors.ca and CaliCan Rescue Foundation will be this year. Make some fabulous organizations very happy by sporting your poppies for the next 15 days.

Many of my friends are participating in #movember this year. Since I’m not, I’m planning on counting poppies and making a donation to one of their campaigns. The big challenge is trying to decide whose #movember campaign to donate to. EEP!

I’ve decided to make my friends work for my donation. I’m cool like that.

If you want me to donate to your #movember campaign leave a comment on this post telling me how you plan to celebrate Veteran’s Week this year. Leave a link to your #movember donation page and I’ll randomly select someone’s campaign to donate to. No comment = no chance at donation.

Of course, I’ll then expect you to carry out your Veteran’s Week plans…

Veteran’s Week takes place from Nov 5-11 and this year Veterans Affairs Canada is asking Canadians to Make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do. (2011 theme was How will you Remember?).

Shamelessly stolen from the Veterans Affairs website:

“Your challenge is to make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do. There are many ways you can show that you remember and honour our Veterans.

• pin a poppy above your heart;
• attend a local Remembrance Day ceremony;
• follow Veterans Affairs Canada on Twitter;
• download the “We Remember” mobile app;
• listen to Veterans talk about their experiences;
• create a mashup and share it on the Veterans Affairs Canada YouTube channel;
• visit the Veterans Affairs Canada fan page on Facebook, write on our wall and share how you remember;
• change your Facebook profile picture to a poppy, write on your wall about how you remember or create your own remembrance fan page.”

In 2010 I decided to donate funds to friend’s Movember campaigns based on the number of poppies I saw people wearing as I randomly walked through Edmonton. In 2011, I expanded my list of charities to donate to (Movember, Kids Need to Read, Boomer’s Legacy, WoundedWarriors.ca and CaliCan Rescue Foundation). I haven’t yet decided who the beneficiary of my 2012 poppy count will be.

As always, I’m donating $0.10 to each charity for each poppy I see people wearing as I wander around Edmonton & Ottawa from the Poppy Campaign’s launch date until November 11.

I will be counting poppies on my way to work, at work, and running normal day-to-day errands (shopping, bill payments, etc.).

I know 10 cents per poppy doesn’t seem like much, but I’m since I’m planning on counting poppies for approximately 20 days and will be attending the Remembrance Day ceremony at the War Memorial in Ottawa this year, I expect the dollar amount to add up quickly. I’m optimistic; hoping to see far more poppies in 2012 than I did during my previous counting experiments in 2010-2011.

Why no donation to the Royal Canadian Legion you might ask? My husband and I are Legion members and donate to their programs throughout the year. I also have an annual tradition of purchasing a new poppy each day of the campaign. And Honestly? I suspect that the Legion’s poppy campaign will benefit more from my poppy purchase traditions than from my poppy counting project.

– side note –
In 2010 I also decided to try and collect photos of poppies on people’s jackets from the date the poppy campaign began until Nov 11. Instead of randomly photographing strangers, I asked friends and family to send in a picture of themselves wearing a poppy. Sadly, my collection was tiny and the project was a bust. I received less than 5 pictures of people wearing poppies.

I think I need to reconsider how I’m collecting the poppy photos.

Seems I’m starting all my new posts with “it’s been a while” lately.

We’ve had a pretty busy year so far. I’m still in school. Hubs is home from Kandahar. The spring battlefields (Somme, Normandy, Ypres, etc.) tour is a distant memory. Our annual Can’t Stop the Serenity event is done for 2011 and planning is beginning for 2012. We’re just starting in with volunteering for Pure Spec and are tearing up the basement to deal with the flooding we’ve been experiencing for weeks due to the horrific weather.

So, what’s new with you?