OTTAWA, Nov. 8, 2016 /CNW/ - For the first time ever, The Royal Canadian Legion is reaching out to Canadians via Facebook Live to share key moments during this year's Poppy Campaign and the National Remembrance Day Ceremony.
The first Facebook event, held on October 28 to launch the 2016 Poppy Campaign, was a live stream of the Legion's first-ever virtual Poppy Drop on Parliament Hill. The feed reached over 1.6 million Facebook users, as 117,000 Poppies fell, each representing one of Canada's Fallen. The video was viewed almost 450,000 times, generating nearly 70,000 reactions, comments and shares. The Poppy Drop will be projected each night on the Peace Tower and Centre Block until November 11.
To continue giving Canadians access to live Remembrance activities this year, the Legion also will create a Facebook Live event for the Remembrance Day Ceremony on November 11 in Ottawa. On that day, tens of thousands of spectators will gather at the National War Memorial, standing in collective Remembrance of all who have fallen in the military service of their country. Those unable to attend will be able to follow the ceremony virtually from 10:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. through our Facebook Live stream.
"Our organization feels this is an important new way to bring the annual ceremony online and make it interactive for Canadians," says Legion Dominion Secretary Brad White, himself a 23-year Veteran. "It is our duty as Canadians to honour all who have served and sacrificed for our country."
The Royal Canadian Legion works year round, advocating for all who served Canada, regardless of when or where they served. The Legion also provides representation, assistance and support to serving and retired Veterans and their families — free of charge, whether they are Legion members or not.
As well, the Legion and its more than 1,400 branches strive to serve and support their communities through outreach and assistance programs for Veterans and their families, fundraising to support essential community services, offering supports for seniors and families in need, and more.
"In today's fast-paced world, it can be easy to take our way of life for granted and forget what so many men and women sacrificed for us," says White. "On Remembrance Day we have the opportunity to honour those who have dedicated their lives to serve our nation".
About The Royal Canadian Legion
Founded in 1925, the Legion is Canada's largest Veteran support and community service organization. We are a non-profit organization with a national reach across Canada as well as branches in the U.S., Europe and Mexico. With nearly 300,000 members, many of whom volunteer an extraordinary amount of time to their branches, our strength is in our numbers.
Legion.ca
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SOURCE The Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Command
Bruce Poulin at Dominion Command, at (613) 591-3335 ext. 241 or by cell at (613) 292-8760 or [email protected].
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