How do you get kids to care about poppies? Put them on the internet, says the legion

A modern take on the decades-old lapel poppy hopes to harnesssocial media and capture the attention of younger Canadians.

The Royal Canadian Legion, which runs an annual poppy fundraiser, hopes virtual versions of the iconic flower will generate more visibility and calmcritics like hockey commentator Don Cherry, who last year was incensed by what he said was a lack of the pinsin public.

Cherry's venting prompted Royal Canadian Legion deputy director Danny Martin to come up with a way to make the poppy popular again.

"That kind of jogged me into action," Martin said. "Maybe we need to do a better job of distributing these poppies, and the digital formatthe technology was there to allow us to do that."

In St. John's on Friday, the legion raised a flag to honour victims of war with a moment of silenceand announce the start of the campaign, which runs until Remembrance Day.

Poppies get personal

Digital poppies can be personalized with names of a loved one or national hero, and donations are made through an online payment.

Those more familiar with its plastic counterpart can still find them handed out by legion volunteers.

But as the bulk of the legion's veterans grow old, it's vital to beckon to younger generations to carry on the poppy fund tradition, said Newfoundland and Labrador president Berkeley Lawrence.

"The hope is to get the youth of Canada more involved in remembrance," Lawrence said. "Soldiers are still serving today around the world, so the remembrance theme has to continue on."

Claudia Matchem, 16, who's been a navy cadet since she was 12,agrees that interest in the poppy campaign is waning among her peers.

"Lots of [cadet] corps aren't getting the recognition that we usually get from younger kids," she said. "It's kind of been hard to get more kids to join, so we're trying to expose ourselves as much as possible."

Shareable poppies for Facebook and Instagram should do the trick, Matchem said, but it doesn't mean forgetting about the lapel version entirely.

"You should always wear your poppies to commemorate the people who served," she said. "Just to make sure everyone knows what's going on, why it's important."

Hands still needed

Aside from wearing and sharing poppies, Lawrence said supporters can volunteer with their local legion chapter.

"There are so many new stores and malls being built, and our legion members are getting older," he said, making it hard for some members to stand outside collecting donations.

One branch was so short on helping hands this week that they put out a call to the community.

Since then, the chapter's phone"hasn't stopped ringing" from people wanting to help, Lawrence said.

In2016, the national poppy campaign raised $16.7 million for services for veterans and their families. More than 21 million poppies were distributed across the country.

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