Poppy sales to help veterans

Published 10:32 pm Monday, November 7, 2011

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3016 Ladies Auxiliary will hold their annual Buddy Poppy Drive Saturday. The money raised will go to help the auxiliary’s efforts to help disabled veterans and their families. -- Tim Reeves

There are 21.9 million U.S. military veterans and 3.3 million of them are disabled according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In honor of Veterans Day one local organization wants to help raise money for these disabled soldiers, their dependents and families.

The Ladies Auxiliary of The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3016 will hold its annual Buddy Poppy Drive Saturday, Nov. 12 at various locations throughout Selma. Members of the Junior ROTC programs at Southside and Selma High Schools will also help give out poppies in exchange for monetary donations to be placed inside the organization’s disabled veterans relief fund.

Raising $1,150 last year, Auxiliary member Patsy Stone said the effort is something the community continues to support and she’s grateful.

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“In the past we’ve done up to $900 to $1,500,” Stone said. “So many veterans (are) hospitalized or have no family … the community has always been so supportive.”

The drive, Stone said, has been a longtime tradition of the Veteran Affairs, with handmade poppies sent to the VFW national headquarters in Missouri.

“They are actually made in VA hospitals by veterans in the hospital,” Stone said. “The post purchases buddy poppies from the national headquarters and we distribute them for donations and put (back) into our relief fund with specifics to helping veterans. We use (the) relief fund to help in anyway — to purchase food or help with bills.”

An auxiliary member since 1996, Stone, whose husband is a Vietnam veteran, said helping veterans has become a passion for her and her colleagues.

“We all chip in and everyone helps … Rayburn Hill is the commander of Post 3016 and Vicky Kilponen is the president for the ladies auxiliary,” Stone said. “It’s so sad, I feel like the veterans don’t get the attention they deserve. I feel like they’re brushed to the side. It’s definitely a passion for the ladies auxiliary to help the veterans in anyway we can.”

Distribution locations include Wal-Mart, Raceway gas station, Winn-Dixie on West Dallas and Highland Avenues, Selma Curb Market and June Bugs.

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