Poppy

Contact Information:

District Chairmen

 Program Information:

Poppy Distribution:                             

The first step necessary to assure success of Poppy Day is the appointment of a capable, enthusiastic chairman and committee.  In selecting a chairman, consideration should be given to her ability to organize the work within the Unit and also her ability to secure the greatest possible cooperation from the community as a whole.  Since the Unit's Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation and Children and Youth funds are derived from the annual poppy distribution, it is essential that it be a success.  Pin the first poppy on the Mayor and ask him to issue a proclamation setting aside a day as Poppy Day, with an appeal to all citizens to observe the day by wearing a poppy.

Volunteer Guide to a Successful Poppy Promotion: A special booklet giving detailed directions for the organization and promotion of a successful Poppy Day has been prepared by National Headquarters.  The booklet outlines the steps necessary to organize the work force, secure newspaper publicity, win community cooperation, and handle the actual work on Poppy Day. (Copies can be purchased at a nominal price from The American Legion National Emblem Sales, 888-453-4466 or www.emblem.legion.org)

Publicity for Poppy Day

Because our poppy is an emblem of sacrifice, those who love it must make every effort to teach the public the true meaning of the flower.  The success of the poppy distribution depends upon the advance publicity.  If, in the season f Memorial Day, the poppy can make the indifferent public recall the sacrifices which have been made by the men and women who gave their lives that our country might be saved, the first and greatest mission of the poppy has been fulfilled.

The second mission is to win the confidence of the public through knowledge of the purposes to which The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary expend the money derived from the poppy distribution.  By means of publicity on the expenditure of the poppy proceeds, public confidence can be won.  The public has the right to this information.  Every Post and Unit should see that the poppy proceeds are so spent that publicity will bring honor and reward to our organization.

The public should also be reminded that the disabled men and women in hospitals, and their families are assisted by our poppy funds.  The public will then know that The American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary are continuing to keep faith with those who gave their all for our freedom.

Each year suggested publicity stories are prepared by National Headquarters and supplied without charge in sufficient quantity to Departments for distribution to each Unit.  The stories are designated to be localized by the insertion of local names or to be rewritten from a local angle.  This publication is entitled "Poppy Preview."

Suggested Activities

the following is a suggested outline of activities to precede Poppy Day: Start a campaign of newspaper publicity which will educate the public about the significance of the poppy and the purpose for which the money is spent; organize a Poppy Speakers Bureau through which speakers will be available for meetings of all community organizations to acquaint them with the value of the poppy program, both from the standpoint of therapeutic value to the maker of the poppy and to the community itself.

Supplies for Poppy Day

Conduct a Poppy Poster Contest in the local schools and give attractive prizes to the winners.  Feature a poppy window display.  Window cards, windshield stickers, poppy stamps, poppy lapel streamers to identify American Legion and Auxiliary workers, "Thank You for Caring" poppy leaflets, and offset printing pro sheets can be purchased through The American Legion National Emblem Sales.  A list of available supplies is furnished by National Headquarters to every Department each fall.

Poppy Facts

Do you know...

• THAT in the spring of 1919, amidst complete devastation, the poppies bloomed in abundance on the battlefields of France where so many of our men had fallen in battle,, and that a replica of this poppy has become the Memorial Flower of the American Legion Auxiliary?

• THAT The American Legion was the first national organization to adopt the poppy as its Memorial Flower, having taken this action at the National Convention in Cleveland, September 27-29, 1920?

• THAT the American Legion Auxiliary adopted the poppy as its Memorial Flower at its organizing convention in Kansas City, in October 1921.

• THAT at the time the American Legion Auxiliary adopted the poppy, it pledged 100% of the profits from the poppy distribution to welfare relief for servicemen and servicewomen and their families, thus fulfilling the true meaning of the poppy, an emblem of faith; faith which is being kept with all who died through service to the living?

• THAT the American Legion Auxiliary, in order to protect the memorial poppy form the inroads of commercialism, adopted a national poppy program at the St. Paul Convention in 1924 which eliminated the commercial poppy?

• THAT the memorial poppies are made of red crepe paper, by hand, by disabled veterans in hospitals and poppy workrooms in forty states, and that the workers receive pay for each poppy made, the material being furnished free by the Department in the state in which the hospital is located?

• THAT the more than 25,000,000 poppies made by disabled veterans are distributed on the streets under the supervision of the American Legion Auxiliary, by approximately 125,000 volunteer workers who receive no compensation?

• THAT through the American Legion Auxiliary poppy program, more than $300,000 is paid annually to needy and disabled servicemen and servicewomen for making the poppies.

• THAT proceeds from the distribution of over 25,000,000 poppies annually under the guidance of the American Legion Auxiliary amount to more than $2,000,000, every penny of which is devoted to Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation work by both The American Legion and Auxiliary, which includes aid to needy veterans and their families?  The method of distribution varies in each Department, depending upon the nature of the demands for help.  Each of our 10,500 Units in communities scattered all over the United States, its territorial possessions, and in foreign countries where veterans reside, maintains a Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Committee working under a chairman, and a Children and Youth Committee with its chairman.  These Unit chairmen are assisted by Department chairmen of similar committees, who, in turn, work under the guidance of a National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Chairman and a National Children and Youth Chairman.

• THAT the public is given an opportunity each year to help in the significant work of The American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary, as well as an opportunity to pay tribute to all who died in service, by wearing a poppy on Poppy Day?

Uses of the Poppy Fund

     WHEREAS, By Resolution 69 of The American Legion at its National Executive Committee meeting in April 1953, the American Legion did enact a mandate with reference to the use of funds derived from the dstribution of poppies; and

     WHEREAS, The American Legion Auxiliary has followed such mandate in the expenditure of such funds; and

     WHEREAS, The recent enlargement of membership eligibility to include Vietnam veterans and our experience in the Hospital Volunteer program indicate that certain changes should be considered in this American Legion mandate; now, therefore, be it

     RESOLVED: By the National Executive Committee of The American Legion, assembled in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 3-4, 1967, that funds derived from the distribution of The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary poppy shall be used for the following purposes only:

1. For the rehabilitation of veterans honorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces after April 6, 1917.

2. For the welfare of the families of veterans of the above named date.

3. For the rehabilitation of hospitalized servicemen returning home and awaiting discharge who require treatment in service hospitals.

4. To defray the expenses of Children and Youth and Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Chairmen in attending authorized conferences at which they are accredited representatives, and the expenses of the Director of Hospital Volunteer Schools to National Conferences, and to defray administrative expenses of Service Department, provided that both The American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary Departments approve such use of funds within the Department.

5. For Transportation expenses of Hospital Volunteers and the purchase of Hospital Volunteer uniforms, if a Department of he American Legion Auxiliary so desires, as well as expenditures on behalf of the Field Service program, if a Department of the American Legion Auxiliary so desires, all within the limits of the guidelines established by the National American Legion Auxiliary.