Poppy day up with the digital times

It is New Zealand's longest running appeal but that doesn't mean Poppy Day isn't up with the times.

Today (Friday) is poppy appeal day and an army of street volunteers will be out in force selling poppies to help the RSA support about 41,000 veterans - the most at any time since the end of World War II - and their families nationally.

In some centres sellers will accept eptpos while those with mobile phones can text a $3 donation (POPPY to 4662) and computer users can give online.

Donations can also be made at ANZ, New Zealand Post and Bunnings Warehouse branches. Z service stations are also offering special car poppies for sale.

On Tuesday - Anzac day - Whanganui's main service is the dawn parade. Assembly is outside the Davis Library in Queens park at 5.15am followed by a parade to the War Memorial Centre to take part in the service of commemoration.

Coffee and rum is served afterwards at the War Memorial Centre while at the Whanganui RSA a special Anzac breakfast is available.

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Other services include:

St Mary's Catholic Church 9am, Maxwell service 9.30am, Wanganui East All Saints Anglican Church 10am, Brunswick service 10am, Turakina service 10am and a Maori service at Pakaitore/Moutoa Gardens 11am.

Four special aircraft will make a flypast of the Whanganui, Rangitikei and Manawatu districts on Anzac Day morning including a 1944 Supermarine Spitfire and a 1945 Grumman Avenger from the Biggin Hill Historic Aircraft Collection at RNZAF Ohakea.

Meanwhile, NZME, publisher of the Wanganui Chronicle and New Zealand Herald, is teaming up with the Returned and Services Association (RSA) to help the children of Kiwi servicemen and women killed in the line of duty.

The RSA-Herald Poppy Appeal will raise money to send children to Camp Legacy, an Australian-based programme that helps those children navigate personal, emotional and mental challenges around the loss of a parent.

The annual camp in Busselton, south of Perth, Western Australia, welcomes children of fallen service people - armed forces and police - from New Zealand and Australia.

In recent overseas campaigns, New Zealand has lost the loss of servicemen and women, with 10 soldiers killed during the 12 years of deployments to Afghanistan.

The 10-day camp allows children aged six to 17 to "mix and mingle, share and cry but ultimately have fun together" through testing day trips and activities, including rock climbing, caving, physical training, horse riding, swimming and tramping.

Soldiers from the Australian SAS Regiment help run the camp, which has been going since the 1960s, and there are plans to create a similar camp in New Zealand.

The children's time away also allows widows, widowers, and caregivers to have a break from care.

To raise the funds, we're running a Pin A Poppy appeal so you can show you remember to care.

In return for a small donation via text or GrabOne, NZME's daily deals site, you'll be sent a digital poppy. You can download it and use it as your profile image or share it on your social media accounts.

Go to http://pinapoppy.co.nz/ to donate

The appeal is separate from, but complementary to, the RSA's national poppy appeal.