We Day: Thousands celebrate activism!

Sixteen thousand young people united in Ottawa to celebrate global activism for We Day on April 9th (Meggie Sylvester, “We Day: Ottawa’s youth activists pump up the volume,” Ottawa Citizen, 10 April 2014):

It’s a vision Marc and Craig Kielburger — the co-founders of Free the Children — have striven to accomplish, and with We Day that dream was shaped on Wednesday into a rather rambunctious reality at the Canadian Tire Centre.

With 180,000 students participating across North America, and a total of 3.8 million followers on Facebook, We Day, which features events in different locations throughout the year, constitutes the largest youth empowerment program anywhere on earth, according to Free the Children. (We Day in Vancouver is shown in the photo above.)

It’s free for students to attend We Day to see and hear motivational speakers and celebrities come together to inspire social change. But to earn a spot, students must participate in local and global causes.

This academic year, students supported more than 700 charities, collecting $11 million and giving a combined 4.5 million volunteer hours.

In addition to the recent Ottawa We Day event, Craig Kielburger will team up on April 17th with Malala Yousafzai for a campaign called We are Silent, which seeks to initiate discussion in schools related to bullying, mental health, and inclusion.

Photo credit: miss604

Tags: Activism, We Day, Youth Activists