General Wingate Branch No. 256 President Jerry Rosenberg, 92, left, and past-President Murray M. Jacobs, 93, seated, met with Baycrest Foundation President and CEO Garry Foster, right, on Aug. 1, to donate funds and express their support for Baycrest’s care and place in the community.
The Royal Canadian Legion General Wingate Branch No. 256 – the Jewish War Veterans’ branch of the legion – recently donated $7,100 to Baycrest in support of beds for veterans on behalf of the Legion.
Amazingly, the money comes from the Legion’s annual poppy campaign. Not widely known by the general public is that each year, when veterans collect coins for their ubiquitous red poppy lapel pins on or near Remembrance Day, they are also still in service and giving back to Ontarians. The Legion’s Ontario Command reserves a portion of its annual poppy pin campaign proceeds for charitable causes. General Wingate Branch – formerly known as the Jewish Brigade – consulted with command and received permission to donate from this fund to Baycrest this year.
Current branch President Jerry Rosenberg and Past President Murray M. Jacobs voiced their appreciation and support for Baycrest, remarking on how it is a stalwart community organization and how it has cared for its share of veterans as well.
Jacobs, who participated in one of military history’s most epic moments, the Battle of Normandy, helped storm Juno Beach in 1944 and liberate Nazi-occupied France in what would prove to be a critical tipping point for the Allies in the Second World War.
“We fought to defend Canada, which is the best country in the world. The whole make-up [of veterans] is to help others. It’s what we do. And now we donate to charities,” Jacobs says. “We send in money collected from the poppy fund to help buy equipment for hospitals. But Baycrest is a special place when it comes to brain health and we’ve donated before. We helped buy wheelchairs for Baycrest and this time we donated $7,100. It’s been very beneficial for us to be involved with Baycrest. It’s a wonderful organization.”