The American Legion Fred Hancock Post and Unit will be distributing red crepe paper poppies, which contribute to the local support of veterans and their families in the Renton community, in the days leading up to Memorial Day.

People worldwide wear the poppy to honor living veterans and those who lost their lives.

According to a press release, the custom began in 1918 when Moina Michael sought to honor the memory of lives lost in World War I. Her inspiration came from Col. John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields,” which describes the rows and rows of graves where his comrades were buried in Belgium when red poppies suddenly bloomed turning graveyards into fields of red.

The American Legion Family has had a connection to the poppy flower since the 1920s when it was adopted as their official memorial flower to pay homage to the battlefields of World War I.

Many crepe paper poppies are made by hospitalized and disabled veterans as a form of rehabilitation and a source of income through this American Legion Auxiliary program.

The American Legion Family brought National Poppy Day to the United States by asking Congress to designate the Friday before Memorial Day as National Poppy Day which is May 25 this year.

Last year, American Legion Auxiliary members throughout the United States distributed nearly 6 million poppies or poppy items and raised almost 4 million in donations that went directly to help veterans, military, and their families in need.

The American Legion Fred Hancock Post and Unit 19 meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm (except July and August) at 3224 NE 12th St. and Northeast Sunset Blvd.