“I do not wear a poppy because I believe no others should follow those already dead, those who short years ago lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved,” she wrote, mimicking John McRae’s famed poem In Flanders Fields.

But the poppy does more than simply honour the dead.

The legion has raised hundreds of millions of dollars over the decades for ex-servicemen and women in need of shelter, food or medical help for themselves or their families. Scholarships and bursaries are also provided for the needy.

The average donation is slightly less than $1 per poppy, meaning many are given away.

The legion sells poppies to its regional commands for 4.3 cents apiece and they in turn sell them to the 1,720 branches at prices that vary across the country. Branches in Ontario, for example, pay eight or nine cents for each one.

The poppy was adopted as the international symbol of remembrance for war dead after McCrae’s poem was published. Source.

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