Be proud of your children, Canada
Hey, Canada: your kids are up to something. Traditionally this phrase would end with “no good” – but not today. Not anymore.
Not after the students of Meadowlands Public School have come together as true community mobilizers, raising more than $4,000 for clean water programs in Kenya through bake sales, a loose change drive, plant sales and more.
Not after the young people of Symmes Junior High School and D’Arcy McGee High School sought to drive bullying out of their school through their highly successful awareness campaign.
And certainly not after St. Patrick’s High School collected 32,500 pennies for the We Create Change campaign, and pledged to take a 24-hour vow of silence as part of the We are Silent campaign, raising awareness about child poverty.
Since last year’s We Day season, young Canadians have given 1.7 million hours of their time to their communities, collected 850,000 pounds of food to fight hunger in their hometowns, and raised $5 million for hundreds of local and international charitable projects.
On Monday, We Day comes to the Ottawa-Gatineau region for the first time, bringing together 4,000 youth, educators and friends at the Robert Guertin Centre.
We Day is part of a year-long program, which provides schools with opportunities to participate in campaigns and access curricular resources. Although the event is free, each young participant earned their way to We Day by taking action on one local and one global issue, and each will leave with the resources and inspiration for a year of campaigns.
“Since last year’s We
Day season, young Canadians have given 1.7 million hours of
their time to their communities, collected
850,000 pounds of food to fight hunger in their hometowns, and
raised $5 million.”
Thanks in large part to TELUS and RBC, We Day has become a national phenomenon: over the school year, 100,000 students from 3,000 schools assemble in eight cities from coast to coast – coming from as far as Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, Churchill and Yellowknife – to shatter once and for all the stereotype of apathetic youth.
Yes, it will be loud. There will be rock and hip-hop music. But the screams will be as boisterous for Martin Sheen and Chief Shawn Atleo as for singer and songwriter Karl Wolf and rap artist Kardinal Offishall, and the silence as deep for speeches by hometown heroes like Molly Burke, who shares her story of being blind and overcoming bullying.
But the best news is that We Day is just one day in the life of a growing movement of young people committed to caring for each other, the earth and their fellow global citizens. We Day's three million plus Facebook “likes” makes it the largest social media cause in Canada, and one of the largest in the world.
It also represents the beginning of a lifetime of compassionate action. A study of We Day alumni from the past five years by Chicago-based research firm Mission Measurement found that 80 percent continued to volunteer an average of 150 hours last year, 83 percent donated to a non-profit or charity, and 79 percent of voting-age alumni voted in the most recent federal election – double the rate of their peers.
Imagine what happens when this We Day generation grows to become the community, political and business leaders of the next few decades. Imagine what impact they, their children and grandchildren will have on our country and our world.
If you or your children aren't going to We Day, you can watch the live webcast and check out our resourcefilled site at WeDay.com, or take our first challenge: Collect $ 25 in now- endangered Canadian pennies and provide clean water for one person for life. Free The Children and RBC are handing out bags to collect the coins in, which can then be returned – with no coin-rolling required – to any of the bank’s branches. With 70 million pennies collected, the We Create Change campaign is working hard to make this the largest penny drive in Canadian history, all of which is helping provide access to clean water to communities around the world.
Canadians have dedicated days to celebrate our country, our families, and even an indecisive groundhog. We come together around national events like the Grey Cup, the Junos and Olympic hockey. It's time we dedicate a day to celebrate the new spirit of “we” inspiring Canada's youth: their contributions of the past year, and their limitless potential to make a better world.
We Day marks the largest national celebration of youth, volunteerism and service. Be proud of your sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren, Canada.
Happy We Day!