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Poppy Money: Little known about how poppy money helps Canadian veterans through the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund

 
It’s poppy time. We pin a scarlet poppy on our lapels to remember all those who served and serve. Always have, always will. Yet when you put your money in the poppy boxes, do you ever wonder where the poppy money goes and how it helps veterans?
Naturally Charity Intelligence does. Each poppy box supports the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund. Each box has a Royal Canadian Branch number. The CRA’s Charities Listing has http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/basicsearchresult-eng.action?k=royal+canadian+legion&s=registered&p=1&b=true” rel=”alternate 241 Canadian legions as registered charities. Canadian Legion reports 1,400 branches across Canada. The Poppy website also reports that RCMP are included as veterans in receiving aid.
Looking at random Poppy Funds and Legion Branches on the CRA Charities Listing shows diverse Royal Canadian Legion activities. “Poppy money” is spent on an array of programs. As such, Charity Intelligence can’t answer your questions about where the poppy money goes, how much is raised, and how much is spent on veterans. It all depends on which legion branch box you put your money into. And, as I experienced, I can’t figure out if the legion box I bought my poppy from is even a registered Canadian charity #_edn1″ name=”_ednref1 [1].  
 – $368,322 in “other revenues” – assuming this is sales of poppies, of which it spends $152,973 (42%) on its charity programs providing direct assistance to veterans, ex-service persons and dependent spouses and children.
Kelowna:

https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/973-canadian-legacy-project Canadian Legacy Project
 
Canadian Legion has been in the news about its lack of transparency, executive travel and charging veterans for resources on PTSD.
David Pugliese, http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-legions-10-fee-for-veterans-to-join-ptsd-support-group-raises-concerns National Post, June 11, 2016
David Pugliese, National Post, June 7, 2016 
David Pugliese, bid National Post, February 25, 2016
 
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   #_ednref1″ name=”_edn1 [1] If this wasn’t complicated enough, I “bought” my poppy from a box supporting Royal Canadian Legion Branch 344. Nothing comes up doing a CRA Charities search of “Legion Branch 344”. Using Google, Branch 344 is the http://www.rcl344.com/” rel=”alternate Queen’s Own Rifles. 
The Queen’s Own Rifles website page says:  “the Annual Poppy Campaign is always well received locally and enables the branch to assist both our veteran members and local veterans either at home or in hospital. The funds raised enable the branch to contribute a great deal of support to much needed veteran’s assistance programs that are within the local community the district and nationally thus making the branch a great asset to the community.”
That’s all the information posted. No charitable registration number, no disclosure on how much money comes in, how much money goes out, and no idea on how many veterans get helped.
I of all people put my poppy money into a legion box that I can’t figure out if it’s a registered charity!
 
Interesting to know: Canadian Lieut-Col. John McCrae wrote the epic poem “In Flanders fields the poppies blow ….” in May 1915 at Ypres. From this poem, the scarlet poppy quickly became the universal symbol of remembrance. The lapel poppies were initially made in 1922 by disabled veterans providing them with a small source of income and allowing them to take an active part in maintaining the tradition of Remembrance. The Royal Canadian Legion took over poppy production from Veterans Affairs Canada. Today’s poppies are produced by a private company.
 

May 5, 2016
Updated May 11, 2016
The wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta is catastrophic, forcing the evacuation of 80,000 people. Thankfully there have been no lives lost at this stage. This will likely be Canada’s largest disaster, surpassing the 1998 Quebec Ice Storm. The 2011 Slave Lake wildfire destroyed 433 properties, forcing the evacuation of 7,000 people. In Fort McMurray, 2,400 properties are destroyed (10% of Fort McMurray’s buildings). 
All Canadians want to know how to help. Charity Intelligence is recommending:
1. For emergency response to help the evacuees, donate to local charities in Edmonton (e.g., Edmonton Food Bank)
2. For the rebuilding, consider local charities in Fort McMurray (see below).
Canadian Red Cross update: As in all disasters, the Canadian Red Cross receives the lion’s share of donations. As of May 11, the Canadian Red Cross has received $67 million in donations, before the matching funds from the Federal and Alberta government. Canadians have been unbelievably generous in their support for Fort McMurray. This is the largest and fastest donor response to a Canadian disaster.
May 11, 2016: The Canadian Red Cross announces that it will be distributing $50 million of these donations in cash transfers to Fort McMurray evacuees. This size and speed of disbursement is unprecedented in Canadian Red Cross history.  expresses the good news of God. Read More

June 3, 2016
Conrad Sauve, President and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross, announced $50 million will go to Fort McMurray’s local charities like the United Way, Wood Buffalo Food Bank, the YMCA and others. Charity Intelligence heralds this decision. The $50 million in community grants is immense – it is twice the donations Fort McMurray charities received in total donations in 2013.
These local charities “are already connected to the residents among the most vulnerable groups in our community. Because these organizations are already at work on the ground they have the expertise and resources.” The Canadian Red Cross will work with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, the United Way Fort McMurray, and other agencies in a committee to better understand the Fort McMurray’s community needs and collectively decide how to meet these needs.
In yesterday’s news release some additional figures were released: Canadians have donated $125 million to the Canadian Red Cross for the Fort McMurray disaster relief and recovery. This figure is expected to rise further as additional donations come in. Furthermore, the Canadian Red Cross will receive matching funds from the Government of Canada and the Alberta Government. May 31^st was the deadline for matching donations. A Canadian Red Cross media contact says the final tally of matching funds will be announced shortly.
Canadian Red Cross announced it has spent and committed $165 million. For context, for the first three months of disaster response, the Canadian Red Cross spent $13.6 million to aid in the Alberta Floods.  
A preliminary breakdown of Canadian Red Cross spending and commitments
1^st month Fort McMurray Disaster Relief and Recovery
All figures in $million