Don’t throw away those little Canada Day Flags

We’re so fortunate to live in a community with such pride and patriotism. Maybe one day this week you pulled into your driveway and there was a thoughtfully placed flag poking out of the ground?

It’s welcoming sight and a lovely gesture to celebrate Canada’s birthday. Perhaps you keep the flag, or maybe only for a few days. If you don’t plan to tuck it away for another year, there’s a local man who collects these flags for an honourable cause and is willing to take what you plan to discard.

Kevin Allan, along with his girlfriend Sherry Ashby, have been sending flags to Belgium for the past six years He ships the flags to his good friend Steven Van Eyck, who lives near the Schoonselhof Cemetery, the final resting place for many young Canadian heroes. Days before Remembrance Day, Van Eyck places the flags on the graves of Canadian Soldiers who died during World War 2

In 2019, Allan collected and shipped 126 flags; in 2020 Covid hampered the flag donation, so they kept the flags in stock for 2021 when they were able to send 277 flags overseas. In 2022, for the first time ever – and thanks to the support of so many Paris residents- Allan shipped 500 flags, more than enough to cover all 346 Canadian graves. Allan sent a special thank you Bill Doyle and Linh Chao, and Brad ‘the Lego guy’ for their generous donation of flags.

Allan said he finds it very important that we recognize the efforts of these young men, whose lives were cut very short to ensure our freedoms.

If you’d like to ship your flag to Belgium, Allan has a donation box set up at 28 Unit C Griffiths Dr, Paris