HALIFAX -- It feels a bit like Christmas in Pictou, N.S., these days, which is actually good news for the local Royal Canadian Legion.
In a first-of-its-kind partnership, the legion has borrowed some iconic Christmas kettles from the Salvation Army in an effort to boost its poppy campaign this year.
Just inside the doors of a busy grocery store in Pictou, you'll find a familiar sight -- but unfamiliar at the same time.
With just days left in the annual poppy campaign, there is no legion member accepting donations at a table, but there is a classic red kettle we're more used to seeing at Christmastime.
"We knew up front, long before the campaign was due, that Sobeys and the liquor store were not going to allow you to sit with the trays and that," said Verd Locke of the Royal Canadian Legion.
Prohibited by public health, it was a local past president who brainstormed the idea, and reached out to the Salvation Army.
It turns out no one had ever asked to borrow kettles for another campaign before, so he had to check with top brass at headquarters
It was an unusual request, but one that was quickly granted.
"COVID-19 is a season of uncertainty, but the Salvation Army and, right now working with the Royal Canadian Legion, we're declaring this to be a season of hope," said Maj. Daniel Roode of the Westville Salvation Army.
In the community, where the unique partnership is working, there is support from residents, who say it makes perfect sense, since the poppy campaign probably needs the help.
With the poppy campaign winding down, the legion is already pleased with the boost and pledging manpower to help shore up the Salvation Army's Christmas Kettle campaign when the time comes.
A unique partnership from two iconic organizations, helping each other in these unfamiliar times.
