What is We Day?

Last week, on Friday, September, 20th, 2013, 20,000 students and teachers crowded into the ACC to watch the annual We Day in Toronto as a reward for all their hard work. We Day is an annual event organized by the Free the Children charity to inspire children to take action and change the world. Famous celebrities and inspiring people come and take the stage to help inspire the kids. Some performers at the big event included Demi Lovato, Chris Hadfield, and Martin Luther King III.  Instead of paying to go to We Day, you earn it. Tons of schools across Canada and the United States take action throughout the year to try to earn a spot at We Day. The We Day that took place this  Friday was not the only We Day event that will be taking place this Fall-many other We Days will take place across Canada, the United States, and for the first time ever, England. 

Craig and Marc Kielburger!

The innovative creators behind this amazing event are Craig and Marc Kielburger. They started the charity called Free The Children at the age of just 12, in 1995. After Craig heard a devastating story about a child in the third world, he decided he wanted to make the world a better place for children. Craig and his older brother Marc wanted to help children in the developing world, so they founded the charity Free The Children. Now, in 2013, the charity has 45 countries engaged in changing the world for children. Craig and Marc Keilburger have totally inspired me to help make a difference for children in the developing world.

Performers at We Day this year!

Darren Criss……He is part of the cast for the awesome series Glee and the host for We Day Toronto

Demi Lovato……She is a fantastic singer and songwriter and Free The Children ambassador

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf……She is the President of Liberia and she was the first elected female Head of State in Africa

Imagine Dragons……They are an amazing rock band

Jonas brothers……They are a great band

Jacob Artist……He is part of the cast of the awesome series Glee

Barenaked Ladies……They are an Award-winning rock band

Austin Mahone……He is a singer and YouTube star

Col. Chris Hadfield……He is a retired astronaut and the first ever Canadian to walk in space

Serena Ryder……She is an award-winning singer

Craig and Marc Kielburger……They are the founders of Free The Children and activists

Degrassi……They are the cast of an awesome TV series

Hon. Kathleen Wynne……She is the premier of Ontario

Kenyan boys choir……They are a traditional African male choir

Martin Luther King lll……He is the eldest son of Martin Luther King Jr. and he is a human rights advocate

Micheal ‘Pinball’ Clemons……He is the vice chair of the Toronto Argonauts  and a CFL Hall of Famer

Hannah Alper……She is a youth speaker and the person who inspired me to start this blog

Molly Burke……She is a Me to We extremely motivational speaker who is visually impaired and  speaks about bullying and hope

Robin Wiszowaty……She is a motivational speaker for Me to We, a great author, and she is a Program Director in Ghana and Kenya for Free The Children

Spencer West……Extremely inspiring Me to We speaker who is a double amputee and he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on his hands in June 2012

Chris Tse……He is a national spoken-word champion, a humanitarian, and a Me to We motivational speaker

Sydney Brouillard-Coyle……She is a youth speaker

Vishal Vijay……He is a youth speaker

How you can get involved!

#1-Attend take action camp

#2-Donate to Free The Children

#3-Take a volunteer trip overseas

#4-Become a We school

#5-Have a speaker come to your school

#6-Start a group to raise money for Free The Children

#7-On Halloween do We Scare Hunger(On Halloween instead of asking for candy ask for canned food to donate to less fortunate people)

#8-Fundraise for Adopt a Village

#9-Have a fundraiser for Free The Children(example: a bake sale)

#10-We create change(Collect pennies for Free The Children’s Adopt a Village campaign to raise money for clean water)

To learn more about ways you can take action and about We day, check out http://www.weday.com/take-action/

Thanks for joining me in my journey to change the world!

-Diviya