By June Coxon
For years, young people have been learning about the sacrifices and lives of World War II veterans through a program called No Stone Left Alone (NSLA). Conceived by Edmontonian Maureen Bianchini Purvis, NSLA was launched in Edmonton in 2011 with a mission to educate youth, to ensure no Canadian veteran is forgotten and to honour those who served, sacrificed and died during the Second World War.
Through NSLA, every young participant receives a Canadian veteran’s name. They locate the person’s grave, research information about the veteran and, during a remembrance ceremony, they say their veteran’s name aloud while placing a poppy on the person’s grave.
It’s an idea that has caught on. The number of NSLA participants and events has grown yearly. In 2024, 13,469 students from 217 communities honoured 123,687 veterans in 327 events across nine countries. Since 2021, participants from at least a dozen Ontario locations, including Ottawa, Almonte, Kemptville and Belleville, have taken part in a NSLA event.
To avoid conflicting with November 11 events, NSLA ceremonies were first held on different days and now they are also held during different months. As Maureen, NSLA’s founder, explains, she has never felt that gathering for just a few hours on one day is enough.
Ottawa ceremonies
Nick McCarthy, director of marketing and community outreach at Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery, discovered NSLA in 2017 while exploring programs promoting inter-generational remembrance and education. “Their mission aligned closely with Beechwood’s role as Canada’s national cemetery,” he says. “After connecting with their team I helped launch the first Ottawa-based NSLA ceremony in 2018. Approximately 75 students attended that Beechwood ceremony, honouring around 5,000 veterans by placing poppies at gravesites and offering words of reflection.”
Nick became a NSLA regional co-ordinator in 2018 to support the foundation’s expansion throughout Ontario. “Since then,” he says, “I’ve worked to grow its presence province-wide and establish long-term partnerships with local schools, youth organizations and remembrance advocates.”
In 2024, over 300 students participated in a NSLA ceremony at Beechwood cemetery, honouring thousands of veterans interred there. Nick explains that Beechwood is the only Ottawa cemetery formally involved with NSLA school-based ceremonies, but he hopes ceremonies will expand to other sites. He mentions Beechwood also hosted a second NSLA ceremony in 2024 with the National Capital Region (NCR) branch of Girl Guides Canada; over 200 girl guides participated. Combined, these events resulted in poppies being placed on over 8,000 headstones, making Ottawa’s contribution one of the largest regional efforts. This year, the NSLA ceremony for NCR Girl Guides at Beechwood is November 8 at 2 p.m. See beechwoodottawa.ca for details.
All told, says Maureen, “We’re expecting 500 events worldwide this year.” The idea for NSLA originated when she was a youngster and her mother, World War II veteran Lillian Mary Bianchini, was dying. Maureen promised her mom she would always remember her on November 11. Since then, she has placed a poppy on her mother’s gravesite annually. First she did so alone, then with her husband and later with her husband and their two daughters.
When those daughters asked why other veterans’ graves didn’t get poppies and said they thought they should, Maureen agreed. That’s how NSLA was born. To date, NSLA has been honoured with eight awards and Maureen has received Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for her efforts. nostoneleftalone.ca
