SaskTel Centre was the place to be on Wednesday in Saskatoon, but you couldn’t buy your way inside. Each WE Day seat was earned by taking action to improve one local and one global cause.
The event is a global movement that inspires youth to build a better world by working together.
“WE Day has really inspired me, it’s such as great cause helping underprivileged children in developing countries. My class and I were inspired and thought we should go out and help the community because there are people who need it,” Olivia Blechinger, a Grade 8 student at Georges Vanier School, said.
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Blechinger and a group of classmates raised $6,000 over a year to support education, water, and health initiatives in India. They’ve also made a difference locally by donating Christmas shoe boxes to the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.
“I feel inspired to keep going with our dream and keep changing the world,” she added.
Blechinger was one of the 15,000 students and educators participating in WE Day, spanning more than 435 schools from across the province.
Together they’ve made a big difference.
In the 2015-16 school year, WE-schools in Saskatchewan volunteered over 261,000 hours and raised almost $735,000 for global and local causes. In addition, over 241 schools participated in the WE Scare Hunger campaign, collecting more than 98,000 pounds of food to donate to local food banks.
This year, presenters included mental health advocate Margaret Trudeau, Saskatchewan Miss Universe contestant Siera Bearchell, country singer Brett Kissel and motivational speaker Spencer West.
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The presentations focused on compassion and supporting those around you who are going through things like bullying, body image or mental health issues.
“We have to reach out to each other, we’re stronger together and we have to include everyone in our embrace,” Trudeau said.
“It’s really inspiring seeing other people who’ve gone through such hardships and still powered through,” participant Eva Henderson said.
The WE movement goes to show that everyone’s contributions, no matter how small, put together can change the world.
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