N.B. students look to make a difference with ‘Postcards for Peace’

Just days ahead of Remembrance Day, a Grade 5 class at Salisbury Regional School in New Brunswick were entrusted with an important task.

Each of them wrote a personalized note as part of a Veterans Affairs Canada initiative called “Postcards for Peace.”

“‘Postcards for Peace’ are a promotion through Veterans Affairs Canada that encourages students to participate in the Remembrance Day Ceremony by writing a short, brief thank you or remembrance for things that they understand about what has happened in their past,” explained teacher Krista Ingrahm-Cote. “It’s so important to have this generation participate because it connects them to our past and it helps them to understand why we live the beautiful life that we live in Canada, so when they understand that it makes so much more community involvement and community connection for them.”

The postcards are anonymous, except for first names, and will eventually make their way to veterans or those currently serving.

“They sure understand the weight of that. That’s why they’ve asked, ‘How do you spell?’ They’re making sure that they have capital letters, punctuation and that they’re spelling and their writing is legible and clear and they’re also making sure they let the person know who’s receiving the card what area of the country their card’s coming from,” said Ingrahm-Cote.

Grade-5 Emma Randall says she learned a lot about the meaning of Remembrance Day this year, including why poppies are worn, and she felt important to be a part of the day.

“I wrote, ‘Thank you so much for saving our country,’ and why I wrote it is because we wouldn’t have our country like this if we didn’t have all the soldiers and veterans that fought for us,” she said.

Lincoln Melvin also wrote a card on Thursday.

“I wrote about my great, great grandfather and my grandfather’s dad because I miss them very much and they fought in World War 1,” he said.

New Brunswick students wrote "Postcards of Peace" for Remembrance Day. (Source: Alana Pickrell/CTV News Atlantic)

The Grade 5 class went to the local legion on Monday to learn more about Remembrance Day preparations and to talk to local legion members.

The entire school had a Remembrance Day ceremony on Thursday.

“I think Remembrance Day should be a holiday that everybody should celebrate to remember the people who died and fought to make this country a better place,” said Grade 5 student Drake Sprague.

“I wrote about my three grandfathers because they all served in a World War and I think we should remember the people who sacrificed to go to the war,” Sprague said.

Typically, the initiative is aimed at children and youth, but in honour of Salisbury’s 250th anniversary and the local legion celebrating 90 years, the entire community is being asked to join in and write a card.

“We still have to think about those who are out fighting for our country. We don’t hear it as much because it’s not considered a war time, but there are still soldiers all over the world, you know, keeping peace and doing what they need to do for our country,” said Salisbury Royal Canadian Legion Branch 31 president Susan Dryden.

The hope is to collect at least 250 cards to display at the legion for Remembrance Day on Monday before they get shipped to Ottawa and distributed to veterans and those in the Canadian Armed Forces.

“I think they need to know that we’re thinking about them even though Remembrance Day is once a year, we think about them every day,” said Dryden. “We’re coming up on the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and just because that world is over, there have been many other conflicts over the past years so the military that is still here have seen things that we can’t take back.”

The town has set a deadline of Nov. 7 for card drop off.

Another way the town is honoring Remembrance Day this year is through their banner program.

This is the third year they’ve gone up within the community and there are currently more than 100.

“They’re serving, they’re deceased, they’re retired. There’s no category for what they can do to be on a banner, but just to have served in our military to be honoured in the community,” said Dryden.

Mayor Rob Campbell said the banner program is close to his heart.

“Coming from a military family it is very meaningful to me and a great source of pride to see the banners here in our community and [I] love that we are growing it every year,” he said in an email.

The legion is hosting a ceremony on Monday.

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