American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Program
The Poppy Program has been a cornerstone of the American Legion Auxiliary for close to a century and has continually evolved since its inception. The American Legion Auxiliary adopted the poppy as its memorial flower in 1921, and, in 1924, in conjunction with The American Legion, instituted the national Poppy Program to protect the memorial poppy from becoming commercialized by outside interests.
Each year, American Legion Auxiliary volunteers distribute millions of poppies, most handmade, in exchange for contributions to assist active-duty military, veterans, and their families. The Auxiliary’s 9,000 units distribute poppies throughout the year, especially on veteran-related holidays. Auxiliary members promote the memorial poppy flower in other ways as well, such as the Miss Poppy Contest, Poppy Poster Contest, and poppy craft projects.
Each year we use the poppies made by the wonderful veterans to decorate many events. We put little bundles together and place them on the graves of the veterans during our Memorial Day Ceremony at the Grand Canyon Cemetery and also during Veterans Day. We use them to decorate and create a nice display at our office in Williams and also for our Commanders Dinners as well. We also have dispersed the poppies on Veterans Day inside the National Park at the Grand Canyon, we did great last year with donations for our Veterans.
For more information on our Poppy program please visit: https://www.alaforveterans.org/Poppy/