The Estevan Legion is getting ready to start its annual poppy campaign once again collecting donations to help out veterans.
Legion President Frosty Forrest says people will see volunteers out in the community later this fall.
"The poppy campaign is launched on October 25th and we will have our volunteers out putting out coffee boxes, visiting businesses, and seeking donations to the Poppy fund. The poppy fund money goes to support our veterans and there's still a lot of veterans around, you know, from our Afghan war and from Bosnia and so on and they need help and the health costs money. So we try to play a part in helping alleviate the problems."
Veteran and President of the Southeast Military Museum Craig Bird says that work is important for supporting veterans in the area.
"Those funds are used in the communities for veterans that are in need. Believe it or not, we do have veterans that are in our communities and some of them are getting older and some of the younger veterans that we have served in Afghanistan and with the Canadian forces on peacekeeping missions and that sort of thing. Every once in a while, you know they need help and the Legion is one of those organizations that can reach out and help veterans. That's what that money is for."
Forrest says that they also look to raise awareness in the community, including for the younger generations.
"We try really hard to get out to the schools and talk to these kids. At our November 11th ceremony this year, we'll have a presentation by Craig Bird of his on his visit to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day and it's going to be quite, quite a good ceremony."
Bird says that seeing people in the community support the program is great.
"It's always nice to see people remembering and commemorating the service. Remembrance Day is more for the people who lost their lives in the service of our country. In particular, when people wear poppies in the community, it represents the people that served and died from our community."
"We have quite a number as you can see on our Cenotaph we added names last year for those who died and those who need to be commemorated from our community and Remembrance Day just pays tribute to those people that paid the ultimate price."
Bird encourages the community to pay tribute during Remembrance Day during their program at the Estevan Comprehensive School starting at 10:45.