Elmira District Secondary School students will be among an expected crowd of 6,000 at We Day Waterloo on at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 17. Started by Free the Children in 2007 in Toronto, the youth empowerment event will be held for the first time in the Waterloo Region. The addition of a local venue is thanks to sponsorship by Research in Motion.
More than 250 schools will be coming to Kitchener for the event, which will feature music, presentations by actors, and speakers including former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and Rev. Jesse Jackson. Director of youth programming at Free the Children, Allison Sandmeyer, said the day was meant to be a call to action for students.
“It’s an inspirational day that really celebrates the power of young people to change the world,” she said. “It really is a high-energy, high-impact day.”
The program is designed to get students interested in volunteering to help social causes close to them and doesn’t focus on one particular issue, but instead challenges youth to find a cause they are passionate about. Students are picked to attend the free event based on demonstrated interest and leadership qualities recognized by their teachers.
“We know that of the students coming, many will be leaders already and they are looking for things to take back to their schools,” said Sandmeyer who sees high involvement from Waterloo Region student already. “We know students are doing incredible things.”
Free the Children will not only be using the day as a celebration for the community’s future leaders, but will be announcing a RIM-funded initiative called the Build a Village Rewards Program. The program will take 50 high school students from Waterloo Region to Kenya and India this summer.
All travelling expenses for the students chosen will be paid for by RIM.
“It’s a really exciting part of our collaboration with RIM,” said Sandmeyer. “They care about connecting young people to social issues.”
The students who travel overseas will be chosen from applicants by a RIM board of volunteers to help build schools or clean water projects during the three weeks they spend abroad. The program is designed as leadership training as well as a volunteer experience.
In order to select appropriate candidates, students are being asked to submit a creative project demonstrating their passion for social causes along with their application.
“It’s all about connecting young people with social issues and with global experiences,” Sandmeyer said.
RIM became involved with Free the Children this year after identifying a need to inspire youth in this area.
“We are thrilled to support Waterloo Region’s first We Day event and to bring the rich experience of the Free the Children program to this community,” said RIM chief operating officer Don Morrison in a release.
RIM employees will also be active with the group in order to further the two projects.
“RIM employees are absolutely actively involved in volunteer and a great number of them are participating and volunteering at the We Day event coming up,” said Crystal Roberts, a company spokesperson. “RIM support is intended to bring the Free the Children experience to Waterloo Region.”
Sandmeyer hopes what students take away from the day is the message that they can change the world.
“We hope to really show them that as young people they can create tremendous change.”
