SASKATOON – Pop stars, sporting legends and inspirational speakers came together in Saskatoon on Wednesday to engage and empower youth to make a difference in the world.
Around 16,000 students filled Credit Union Centre (CUC) for the second annual We Day Saskatchewan.
Every one of the students earned their way to attend We Day Saskatchewan through community service.
The invitation only event is all about inspiring a generation to act and who better to help do that than Martin Luther King III.
He had young participants chanting, “We are going to be a great generation.”
“Be a part of regulating what happens in your world,” he told the crowd.
Sponsored by PotashCorp, students from more than 325 schools across the province packed into CUC.
It’s an initiative of international charity Free the Children.
The line up also included National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Magic Johnson.
“The coolest thing in a cool young person is a person who won’t tolerate bullying,” he told the crowd.
The influential sounds of chart-topping musicians like Tyler Shaw, Shawn Desman, Kay and Neverest also filled the stadium.
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“Life is about surrounding yourself with people that inspire you and people that make you want to do better and that’s all this is,” said Canadian singer-songwriter Kay.
“If you’re here and your friends are not here, tell your friends, if you’re here and your friends school’s not here, get them to tell their school and teachers because this is something real, this is something with substance,” said Desman, who also hosted the show.
Free the Children was started by Canadians Craig and Marc Kielburger when they were children themselves.
“When we started free the children we felt very alone as young people and I think kids often feel alone, they think I’m only one person what difference can I make? The problems of the world are so big,” said Craig.
“Then you see 15,000 kids in a stadium who’ve earned their way to be here through service they know they’re part of 160,000 youth this year who attend We Days and part of the largest Facebook cause in the world when it comes to a charity, so when the youth look at that, that feels empowering,” he added.
Kielburger says you’re never too young to change the world.
“The question is, are you ready to take your place in history,” Kielburger yelled to cheers from the crowd.
MORE: Neverest, Molly Burke and PotashCorp CEO Bill Doyle discussed their involvement in We Day Saskatchewan with Melissa Nakhavoly.
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