VFW Poppies to help veterans and active duty troops
One of Arlington Heights Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 981's missions is to remind our communities about the sacrifice that veterans have made for our country.
With that in mind, Post 981 members will be at a variety of locations in Arlington Heights on Saturday, May 20, and in Buffalo Grove May 27 distributing poppies and accepting donations. Members are given permission by supermarkets, drugstores and hardware stores to greet the public.
In 1915, John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields," about the poppies growing in a war graveyard in Belgium. The VFW began distributing poppies before Memorial Day in 1922. It has officially trademarked the term "Buddy Poppy" to distinguish that the poppies are assembled by disabled veterans.
Post 981 depends on the generosity of the suburbs it represents to fund charitable organizations that support veterans and active duty service people.
Post 981 sets all donations aside in a fund separate from its operational account. It strives to distribute all the moneys during its fiscal year of July 1 to June 30. Some of those that were supported with last year's donations include: Help USA Troops and American Legion Post 208 sending supplies to active duty service members; K9s For Veterans, which provides service dogs; The Veterans Closet, which helps furnish housing for veterans; Braveheart, which connects veterans and their families with horses; and the VFW National Home and the VFW National Home for Children, supporting veterans' families.
VFW Post 981 thanks everyone who responded in the past and will respond this year.
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