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The new digital poppy launched Friday as part of the Royal Canadian Legion’s poppy campaign will provide an alternate way for Canadians to remember and also personalize and dedicate their poppy to a specific veteran. Legion deputy director Danny Martin said this new poppy will better engage youth to honour veterans in this digital age.

“In order to communicate especially to the group of millennials and younger, the Legion thought it was important to introduce the digital poppy to allow this group of individuals … to express themselves in regards to veteran support as well as the remembrance aspect,” Martin said.

All Canadians can go to mypoppy.ca and purchase a digital two-sided representation of the Remembrance Day flower that can then be shared across several social media platforms and used as profile images. The online method also eliminates the dilemma of not carrying cash to purchase a traditional lapel poppy.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea because we live in such a cashless society today,” Callingbull said. Donations for digital poppies are accepted by Visa and Mastercard and will be sent to the Legion branch closest to the donor’s address to support veterans and their families.

Callingbull is one of several prominent Canadian figures leading by example in the social media campaign that runs until Nov. 11, which Martin said is an important aspect of engaging youth.

“Our educational system doesn’t provide adequate background knowledge on the sacrifices made by our veterans over the last century,” Martin said. “So the remembrance aspect and … the learning curve being supported by these celebrities is phenomenal.”

duscook@postmedia.com

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