The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 94 in Quesnel works hard to support veterans, their families and the community.
Branch president Doug Carey explained the legion is kept running by the hard work of dedicated volunteers.
"This entire building is run by volunteers," he said, noting that the legion branch only has two paid employees: a janitor and a bartender. Carey said it's hard to estimate how many people put in a few hours to help the legion, but thinks it's around 75 people. "We take that on because we believe in this organization, we want to make sure that it continues to function."
The legion was created with the mandate of supporting veterans and their families. It was started in 1925 after the First World War and expanded the support it offered to veterans after the Second World War.
"That is still our mandate to this day. And it's the most important thing we do, assist veterans and their families," Carey said. He highlighted that people may think of veterans as older, but it is important to recognize that there are younger people who are veterans.
The legion has a few sources for raising funds to help support veterans and their families. The first is through the operation of the bar and restaurant. Carey said they have volunteers who work in the kitchen and a volunteer bartender on top of their paid bartender whose work allows the legion to stay open later on the nights they're in.
The legion also holds flea markets and meat draws, the BC Lottery Corporation allows them to purchase meat and sell raffle tickets.
"There's a very active flea market downstairs that brings in a lot of money every month," Carey said, adding the people who work to organize and run the market do a wonderful job. "People in the community see that and they say 'I've got this box of stuff I don't want anymore. I'm going to take it down to the legion.' I have to stress the generosity of this community. We're getting stuff in here every day."
But one of the most direct ways people can support veterans through the Legion is supporting the two-week long poppy campaign. All of the funds donated to the legion in Quesnel goes to support veterans and their families in Quesnel.
The branch's service office, Ian Campbell, who is also a volunteer, connects with veterans to determine their needs and helps get the funding and support to them. He stressed that the money from the poppy campaign goes directly to supporting veterans, it isn't to fund upkeep or improvements to the legion building.
"We had a veteran come through here. He was on his way to a veterans affairs appointment in Vancouver, his truck disintegrated on him," Campbell said. "With the poppy fund, we were able to have his truck fixed. When he came back up, his truck was ready to go."
Despite the legion's solid base of support, Carey said they have been having trouble getting enough people signed up to collect donations for the poppy campaign. It means that the people who are able to support the campaign have to put in more hours each day.
"It would be a shame if somebody wanted to come and they wanted to buy a poppy and there wasn't one available for them because we didn't have the volunteer to sit there," Carey said. "You don't even have to be a legion member, just a volunteer. But I would urge legion members, if they've got a couple of hours once or twice during the poppy campaign, which is less than two-weeks, to sit and enjoy it."
Carey said the time passes quickly and it's a good opportunity to connect with people and it makes him feel good and gives him a sense of fulfillment to sit and collect donations for the campaign. He added that if every legion member volunteered for the poppy campaign, fewer people would have to sit for multiple shifts throughout it.
People who would like to volunteer can head to the Legion and ask for a volunteer form.
Outside of the poppy campaign, Carey said there are plenty of opportunities for people, adding people get to choose what volunteer positions they're interested in rather than being assigned something.
"We had a young man come in a week and a half ago, said he wanted to work in the kitchen. So they took him to the kitchen the other day, now he comes in every Thursday. Loves it," Carey said.
Everyone in Quesnel benefits from the volunteers at the legion, Carey said. He added it's a nice, quiet place to get a meal and a drink at a reasonable price.
Carey isn't a veteran himself, but he comes from a military family where his father and uncles were veterans of the Second World War. He used to think of the legion as an "old man's club" but after he started going to the old legion in Quesnel before it burnt down, he realized what a valuable place it was.
"I believe in this organization, this is something that we should be doing," Carey said. "A guy has to believe in something, and this is what I believe in."
