I figured that you guys wouldn't know, which is why I called it "veterans donations." The poppy is the symbol of the
Royal Canadian Legion; the organization of military veterans. It became the symbol, of our military veterans, because of a poem written by a soldier during WWI.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
They support things like the Remembrance Day ceremonies (like Veterans' Day, for you guys). To this end they sell little plastic poppy pins, in donation boxes, in stores. You drop a few cents in and take a pin.