2018-06-22 Fri

An international organisation named Development and Peace was established by the Roman Catholic Church in Canada to raise funds for agriculture, education, and human rights programs in 70 countries. It has been collecting and selling almost 25,000 stamps every year since 1984 as a part of one of their popular fund-raising campaigns.

Stamps are collected from parishes and Catholic groups across Canada before they are presented at the head office in Montreal. Stamps are removed and placed in albums by volunteers. The stamps are sold in Montreal, Quebec City and neighbouring communities to raise funds. Collectors pay anything from a nickel to a quarter to buy these stamps. A rare error stamp was once sold for $200.

When the campaign was introduced in 1984, not many stamps were sold. Today, stamps are collected from as many sources as possible. The organisation receives as many as 25,000 stamps every year and stamp collectors come in large numbers to buy them. Even though modern stamps are not valuable, people love the entire process of collecting them. Atlantic Canadians contribute thousands of stamps every year to the organisation. People rarely write letters these days, however, the collections get bigger during Christmas season.

Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons