Levin RSA donates $15,000 to the National Poppy Trust

On 12 February 2018, the Trustees of the Levin RSA Poppy Trust voted unanimously to donate $15,000 to the National Poppy Trust.

This generous grant was initiated by the Trust Treasurer, Gary Ford, an Afghanistan Veteran. The Trust Chair (and Levin RSA President), Wayne Kaye and his Trustees were aware that over the last two and a half years, the National Poppy Trust has been providing significant support to increasing numbers of younger Returned and Service persons and their families across the country; people who have been either under the care of local RSAs through their more pro-active attempts to connect with those who served post-1974, and also No Duff Charitable Trust.

This has seen an unprecedented draw on national funds, upon which smaller RSAs rely on to make their limited poppy funds go further. The Trustees of the Levin RSA Poppy Trust recognised this, and felt an obligation to respond to the national need where able. The Trustees are grateful for the continued support locally for the Poppy Appeal, and can assure the local community that their generous support will be utilised either locally in the first instance, or throughout the country (based on the needs of the wider Veteran community)  to ensure the funds raised from the Appeal are applied prudently and towards the purposes for which they are collected.
 
In a letter of thanks to the Trustees, the RNZRSA National President, BJ Clark, wrote; “I particularly commend you and your trustees in this display of comradeship, responsiveness to wider need and your confidence in the RNZRSA to manage these funds effectively.  It is heartening to hear of such initiatives and I will be certain to advise others of your example.”
 
The Trustees of the Levin RSA Poppy Trust said they didn’t want any fuss but the RNZRSA said that such an example of comradeship and  forward thinking could not go unrecognised. RNZRSA Support Services Manager, Mark Compain, stated that “Levin RSA’s donation was a fine example to the RSA movement. It demonstrates that the Levin RSA is looking to the future, regardless of any discomfort, and confronting the need for change head on; perhaps not too dissimilar to their comrades who have proven so adept at adapting on the battlefields of yesterday and today.” He also stated that, “this thinking and action is completely in line with the new RSA Support Services Strategy – ‘The Race to Trieste’, which seeks to address the many challenges in providing timely and relevant RSA support within an increasingly larger and more complex environment.”  
 
Levin hopes to encourage other RSAs to think about doing something similar, and that their support function is also part of a connected, national team, responding to need wherever it arises.