Dannevirke: Poppy pride conveys thanks

Dannevirke's Ernie Walker, secretary/treasurer of the Dannevirke RSA, with some of the poppies which will be on sale on Thursday. Photo/Christine McKay

Every RSA Poppy Day is special, but this year on the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, it's time to stand up and be proud, Ernie Walker of the Dannevirke RSA says.

"We can be proud of our involvement, even though we paid a very high price to ensure world peace was maintained," Mr Walker, the secretary/treasurer of the local RSA said.

"We'd like to see everyone wearing a poppy not only as a mark of respect but as Sir Winston Churchill said when addressing the 2nd NZEF in the desert, 'your fellow comrades will regard your joint works with admiration and gratitude'.

"We can do that simply by wearing a poppy to say thank you."

Members of the women's section of the RSA will be selling poppies around Dannevirke this Thursday, the money collected helping to provide funds to continue attending to the needs of our veterans and their families, Mr Walker said.

"Last year the visiting committee made many calls to rest homes and the hospital and attended to many small maintenance jobs at homes of veterans and their families," he said. "It's about living up to the RSA motto of people helping people and this has been achieved in Dannevirke thanks to the generosity of our community."

The RSA is encouraging people to wear their poppies for eight days this month, acknowledging the sacrifices made in World War I.

"Rather than wear a poppy for just one day, we are encouraging New Zealanders to display it on their lapel from Poppy Day, April 17, through to Anzac Day, April 25, as a mark of respect and remembrance," RSA chief executive David Moger said. "Wearing a poppy is a way for Kiwis to connect to and honour the Anzac values of compassion, comradeship, courage and commitment, shown by New Zealand forces across all generations."

More than 18,000 New Zealanders died during World War I, more than in any other conflict involving New Zealand forces and more than 40,000 were wounded.

Poppy Day is the RSA's biggest annual fundraiser with 1.2 million poppies distributed and Mr Moger said he hoped donations would reach $2.5million. In the last few years they had amounted to almost $2million.

"Poppy Day has been a New Zealand tradition since 1922, making it one of the oldest nationwide appeals," he said.

"The poppy reminds people of sacrifices made for the greater good, both past and present.

"Poppies were the first flowers to grow in the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium during World War I and are a symbol of remembrance and hope."

Donations to the Poppy Appeal can be made via mobile phone by texting POPPY to 4462 or online at www.rsa.org.nz/make-donation