Beech Tree News Network

On Monday September 24th, the Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 5837 gave a presentation to second thru fifth graders at Morgantown Elementary School regarding the Buddy Poppy Program. The first VFW poppy distribution in the United States was shortly before Memorial Day in 1922, making the VFW the first veterans organization to arrange a nationwide distribution. Soon after this the poppy was adopted as the flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). It wasn't until 1924 that the VFW registered the name "Buddy Poppy".

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Buddy Poppies are made for veterans by veterans, and are named so because the people that make them call each other their "buddy".  Buddy poppies are never sold; they are given in exchange for a contribution. The proceeds go to veterans in need of financial assistance and living in hospitals or in assisted living facilities

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Each year, over 14 million Buddy Poppies are distributed in the United States, raising over $11 million dollars for veterans.

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The poem entitled "In Flanders Fields" was then read to the students.