How will you remember?
Scribbled down on October 20th, 2011 by she
Posted in Lighter Side, Random Burbling, Those Who Volunteered
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.
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October 25th, 2011 at 7:03 am
Was not aware that you were still writing the blogs and so did not know about the photo request.
October 25th, 2011 at 9:18 am
The photo request was last year. And I was blogging far more reliably back then…
October 25th, 2011 at 9:20 am
[…] How will you remember? […]
November 1st, 2011 at 7:30 am
To be honest, I’ve never really paid much attention to Remembrance Day, but I always know that I should. As the day comes near, I always feel like I need to do something, but then the day comes and goes, and like so many other people, I just treat it like another day off.
Well not this year. You’ve inspired me to actually treat the day, and the people it is meant to represent, with the respect they deserve.
I’ll do what I can of the list above, but at a minimum, I’ll:
– wear a poppy (always do)
– attend the ceremony at the War Memorial in Ottawa (first time)
– download the app (first time)
– follow Veteran’s Affairs on Twitter (first time)
– visit the facebook page and write a comment (first time)
– change my facebook and twitter profile pics (first time)
– listen to Veterans and talk about their experiences (first time)
For so many who have given so much so that I may enjoy the freedoms I do, it’s the very least I can do.
November 1st, 2011 at 8:29 am
I’ve always wanted to go to the ceremony at the War Memorial in Ottawa. Some day hubs and I will make the trek. The museum is also on my “to do” list.
Hard to believe that I’ve lived in a number of provincial capitals and spent time in capital cities of many foreign countries (India, Philippines, Japan, France, UK, etc.) but have never once managed to visit the capital of Canada…
November 2nd, 2011 at 8:09 am
Last year Dan, Mum and I visited Ottawa for Remembrance day while Drew was in Ottawa. Very memorable> this year we will wear our poppies and go to work and then watch the ceremonies that Tivo taped in the evening
November 2nd, 2011 at 8:10 am
correction we were in Ottawa Drew was in Afghanistan
November 2nd, 2011 at 11:22 am
And I was freezing at the Alberta Legislature while having my ear drums assaulted by firing of big guns. I can’t imagine how horrific the caucaphony on an actual battlefield was during WWI and WWII.