St Ursula's College students Elena Stahlhut, Dana Flynn and Chloe Mills with poppies for the 5000 Poppies Project. Nev Madsen
SANDRA Jarrett can understand how Victorian Lyn Berry's project to have 5000 handmade poppies adorn Federal Square in Melbourne for the Anzac Centenary blew so far out of proportion.
The St Ursula's teacher is going through the same thing as the Toowoomba co-ordinator of the 5000 Poppies Project.
She thinks it is probably because it is such a simple and fun way to pay respect to the servicemen and women who fought for our country.
The 5000 Poppies Project was originally aimed at creating a field of poppies to mimic the stunning red battlefields in Belgium, France and Gallipoli, in remembrance of the men who died there, but it soon turned into so much more.
Across the country, people heard about the project and began crafting their own little red flowers to send in.
This week officially marked the 50,000 poppies point, 10 times the original number hoped for, with four months still to go before the deadline.
Ms Jarrett said it had been an excellent project for the students to get involved in, but word was fast spreading.
She told fellow St Ursula's teacher Wendy Collins about the idea when she first heard about it, which led to her mum's crafting group taking on the project.
The assortment of groups to have taken on the project have already crafted hundreds of the gorgeous red flowers but Ms Jarrett is hoping more Toowoomba people will get involved.
"There are so many older women involved now," she said.
"We even have had a woman at one of the nursing homes who had made 99.
"She died yesterday before she could finish the 100 she had aimed for. There is a tennis group that knit at their weekly tennis game while they are off court, and the Harlaxton RSL women have made hundreds.
"On Thursday we will hold the school Remembrance Day service and we have called on every one of our 52 pastoral care groups to have made at least one to bring along.
"It's a fantastic project and people can make them as simple or as complex as they want.
"People can even include a message (of remembrance) with their poppy."
The school recently became the local collection point for crafters keen to fashion poppies from wool, felt, fabric and other materials.
To find out more about the 5000 Poppies Project, visit 5000poppies.wordpress.com.
The deadline for delivering the poppies to project headquarters in Victoria is March 15.
To find out more about the local component of the project or to deliver your poppies, contact St Ursula's on 4632 7611 or drop them at the front office, at 38 Taylor St.
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