Calgary Poppy Fund

About Calgary Poppy Fund:

Royal Canadian Legion Branch Poppy Fund, known as Calgary Poppy Fund, raises money through its annual Poppy Campaign to fund financial aid and non-financial aid programs for war veterans and their families. Calgary Poppy Fund is the largest Poppy Fund in Canada.

Calgary Poppy Fund runs two major programs for eligible veterans. Veterans must apply and are screened by City of Calgary’s City Links [2].  One program is Veteran Assistance and the second program is Veteran’s Food Bank [1]. CPF's Veteran Assistance program helps veterans and their families through major assistance and bursaries. Calgary Poppy fund spent $321k directly on veteran aid programs in F2017, down 64% from $892k in F2016. This includes help paying medical costs, first and last month rents, utility bills and other items, and also parking passes for local hospitals. Bursaries of $1,000 per student are disbursed to veterans, their children, their grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, as per the Legion manual. In F2018, bursaries were $155k, down 71%% from $545k in F2016. Calgary Poppy Fund also distributes cash to other charities. These grants totaled $109k, compared with F2016 when the Calgary Poppy Fund gave a $500,000 grant to Alberta Command Legion, $165k to Calgary Health Trust, $105k to Hospice Calgary, and other grants.

The Veteran's Food Bank is closing down, with the Calgary Food Bank supporting veterans in need of food. The Veteran’s Food Bank provides food hampers and food vouchers to veterans, ex-service persons, widows, and dependents in financial strain. Hampers contain only non-perishable food and food vouchers and other essentials [3].

News update: September 30, 2018 Calgary Herald reports that the Veterans Food Bank has closed 4 months earlier than previously announced. Veterans in need will be supported by Calgary Food Bank, a 4-star rated charity with good impact. Here is a link to Charity Intelligence's report on Calgary Food Bank [4]. Calgary Poppy Fund directors state this will free up funds and the charity will focus on addressing veterans' financial, physical and mental needs. 

Going forward, operating decisions will be made at Alberta's Legion Command, also based in Calgary.

Financial Review:

Calgary Poppy Fund is a medium-sized charity, with total cash donations of $3.6m in F2017. $1.4 million of its funding comes from the annual poppy campaign. Administrative costs are 13% of revenues and fundraising costs are 6% of donations. Per dollar donated to the charity, $0.81 goes towards programs, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Calgary Poppy Fund’s funding reserves of $2.6m can cover annual program costs for 1.7 years.

Updated on November 6, 2018 by Katie Khodawandi.