The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we approach most special occasions this year, and Remembrance Day will be no different.
The Royal Canadian Legion is getting creative this year to ensure that people can safely purchase a poppy.
The legion worked with HSBC Bank Canada to make electronic boxes where Canadians can donate $2 with a tap of their debit or credit card or electronic-pay device and take a poppy to wear.
As of Oct. 30, there will be 250 of these “pay tribute” boxes at HSBC branch locations, certain legion branches and some retail locations. Traditional poppy donation boxes will still be used at about 25,000 locations across the country. Some legions will also sell non-medical masks featuring maple leaves and the legion logo. About 120,000 of the masks, also available online, have been sold so far, and the proceeds support the work of the branches.
WATCH: Digital poppies for Remembrance Day. Story continues below.
“It’s in response to the fact that many people are carrying less change around, so people are becoming more digital in their transactions,” Nujma Bond, communications manager for the Royal Canadian Legion’s national headquarters, told HuffPost Canada.
“And also, it seems like a really good solution in the time of the pandemic where people are a little more reticent to be handling money directly. So this gives them a completely touchless environment in which they can still donate to the national ‘Poppy Campaign.’”
The idea for the boxes has been around for a while, Bond said, and the timing worked out for the 250-box pilot to take place this year. The legion hopes to increase the number of tap donation boxes further next year, she said.
The boxes were “designed as a reflection of their solemn inspirations,” the Royal Canadian Legion said in a post on their website. The boxes are in the shape of a headstone, bearing the words “In honour of those who served” and “In memory of those who fell” from the Halifax Cenotaph monument.
The legion is encouraging Canadians to stay home on Nov. 11 this year instead of attending a Remembrance Day ceremony. There will still be a national ceremony in Ottawa that will be broadcast on TV and Facebook live, and some legion branches may also hold ceremonies depending on their COVID-19 restrictions.
“... the pandemic is not going to stop the thankfulness that Canadians have.”
- Nujma Bond
Some branches will have volunteers asking for donations or donation tables set up, but the legion is encouraging its locations to rely more on standalone boxes, Bond said.
The national Poppy Campaign typically raises almost $20 million, Bond said. While Canadians in some parts of the country may have tighter COVID-19 restrictions that make it harder to donate in-person, Bond said the organization anticipates Canadians will be “just as generous” this year.
Canadians can also donate online or purchase a wreath that will be pre-placed for the Ottawa ceremony.
“I think as Canadians, we understand that many of the freedoms that we enjoy today are a direct result of the incredible sacrifices of our veterans of yesterday, and of our veterans who currently still are out there on peacekeeping missions, continuing to protect the freedoms that we enjoy, and the pandemic is not going to stop that thankfulness that Canadians have,” Bond said.
Funds from the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund go toward helping veterans and their families and communities through emergency assistance, social programming and helping veterans fill out government forms to get the benefits they’re entitled to.
“There are so many things that happened as a result of the funds that are donated, and we’re extremely grateful,” Bond said.