It’s 10 o’clock Friday morning and a small table is set up near the escalators at Lougheed Town Centre.
It’s the start of what could be a long day volunteering for Trudy Black and her mom Lorraine.
For the next four hours, the pair will be manning the poppy fund table in the mall, ahead of this year’s Remembrance Day holiday.
A steady trickle of shoppers stop by the table.
Each time, they slip a coin – some a toonie, some a loonie and in some cases even bills – in a decorated box and grab a red and black poppy neatly laid out on the table.
Trudy began volunteering with the North Burnaby Legion No. 148 15 years ago and has been a mainstay with the organization selling poppies.
“I enjoy doing it,” she told the NOW, as she stood by a table full of poppies in the mall.
And Trudy must enjoy it, given that she came to the mall following an overnight shift at her job as a trucking dispatcher.
But today, she won’t be alone. Her mom is by her side.
Lorraine recently decided to follow her daughter’s example and joined the Legion for the first time this year, just a couple weeks ago.
Growing up, she said her parents took her to Remembrance Day services and the time of year was always important.
Not only will mom and daughter keep each other company through the shift this day, they’ll be each other’s eyes and ears.
That’s because, unfortunately, a box full of cash is too tempting for opportunistic crooks.
In the same spot a year ago, someone swiped the donation box in broad daylight.
Trudy was working that day but just happened to turn away for a split second while two other volunteers were sitting down at the table when the thief made off with the box.
He was never arrested.
This year, the cash box is tethered to the table by a chain.
The local Legion raised $34,000 in last year’s poppy campaign and hopes to achieve similar numbers this year. The Legion will also sell nearly 20,000 poppies. The money goes toward helping veterans and their families who are in need.
Back at the table, the pair also want to make sure no one loses their poppy, and they’ve taken it upon themselves to provide tiny earring catches to keep the poppy pins in place on clothing.
Trudy notes the people who stop by to donate and pick up a poppy on their way in and out of the mall come from all walks of life.
People just like Vanessa Klein, who bought a poppy. The Coquitlam resident said her dad was a Korean War vet and every year she buys the little red poppy in honour.
“We get to live free because of what the soldiers have done for us,” she said.
Klein was also appreciative of the efforts of the Blacks and many others for volunteering to sell the poppies.
But the mom and daughter aren’t volunteering their time for any pat on the back, even if it’s well deserved.
Trudy said she does it because she has veterans in her family and wants to carry on the tradition of supporting the men and women who fought for the country.
So she and her mom will be back at the table the next day, volunteering their Saturday to get a little bit more money to help the local veterans.
