Since 1922, the Buddy Poppy has been an integral part of the
VFW community. As VFW's official memorial flower, the Poppy represents the
blood shed by American service members. It reiterates that VFW will not
forget their sacrifices.
The Poppy movement was inspired by Canadian Army Col. John McCrae's famous poem,
"In Flanders Fields". Poppies were originally distributed by the
Franco-American Children's League to benefit children in the devastated areas of
France and Belgium following World War I.
In 1922, the VFW conducted a campaign and received Poppies from France.
Members soon discovered it took too long to get the flowers from France and they
came up with a better idea: Disabled, hospitalized, and aging veterans
could make the paper flowers and ship them out to the members for distribution.
This practice remains in effect today, with veterans in VA hospitals
and state veterans homes assembling VFW Buddy Poppy's and shipping them to
VFW Posts around the world.
The VFW pays these veterans for their work of assembling Poppies. In
most cases, this extra money provides additional income for the worker to pay
for the little luxuries, which make hospital life more tolerable. All proceeds
from the VFW's Poppy distribution are used for veterans welfare or the well
being of their needy dependents, as well as the orphans of veterans.
The VFW's Buddy Poppy program is truly all about veterans helping veterans and
living up the VFW's motto of "Honoring the Dead by Helping the
Living".
VFW Scholarship Programs
At the turn of the
century, the founders of the Veterans of Foreign Wars created an organization
that would honor and serve veterans and perpetuate the values and ideals for
which those veterans served. Although men of vision, it is doubtful they
could imagine the millions of Americans impacted today by the VFW's youth,
scholarship and Recognition programs.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of students participate in the Voice of
Democracy Scholarship Competition and the Patriot's Pen Essay
Contest, garnering more than $3.4 million in scholarships and incentives. The Patriot's
Pen and Voice of Democracy are both endorsed by the National Association of
Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
VFW Patriot's Pen Essay Contest
Patriot's Pen gives 6th, 7th and
8th grade students the opportunity to express their opinion on a patriotic
theme and improve their writing skills, while they compete for worthwhile
awards and prizes. Department (state) winners compete for $91,000 in U.S.
Savings Bonds at the national level with the winner receiving a $10,000 U.S.
Savings Bond in Washington, D.C., in April of each year.
2008-2009 Patriot's
Pen Theme: "Why America's Veterans Should Be Honored"
VFW Voice of Democracy Scholarship Competition