We Day at Saddledome for Strathmore

Times Reporter

 

Me to We school clubs across Alberta gathered at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Oct. 24, to empower young adults to make a difference in their communities and in the world, through the inspirational event of We Day. Roughly 16,000 kids attended, including forty from Strathmore High School.

“Basically it’s like a kickoff,” Grade 12 student Genista Kippin said. “It introduces all the fundraisers that you do, and a lot of times for people who haven’t done a lot of fundraising, it really shows how you can.”

Kippin was in the Strathmore High School’s Me to We Club last year as well, but fellow senior Kennedy Barth is in her first year with the initiative.

“I love to volunteer and stuff, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get involved in that,” Barth said.

When both girls were in Grade 10, they participated in the club’s 30 Hour Famine; last year, the club ran a water walk where students pledged to carry four litres or eight litres of water all day, to raise awareness of those who face similar challenges in third world countries.

This year, the club has decided to start with a coin drive from Oct. 31-Nov.14, but would like to do a few fundraisers before the annual Me to We Benefit Concert and Silent Auction in March.

“It’s usually really big,” Kippen said. “That’s how we raise the most money,” Barth added.

Strathmore’s Me to We Club raised $3,500 last year, and had the same goal for this school year. However, the club’s students don’t just fundraise; they’re also helping out volunteer causes, such as at The Mustard Seed in Calgary, which provides shelter, food, and clothing for those experiencing poverty.

“They gain a ton of knowledge and perspective on global events and on different social issues within our community; it gives them a different viewpoint from their own life,” Christine Magill said, teacher advisor of the club. “It challenges their perceptions on their material possessions. Like when we did the water walk, for example. We just turn on the tap, but for that day, the kids had to carry around water… that was similar to what a woman in a developing country would have to carry.”

Last year, four kids from Strathmore High School went to Kenya, and have since been fundraising for Kenyan communities. This spring, the school is potentially sending five students to Ghana for a similar project, involving a school build and they will visit original slave trade ports. The trips are a similar initiative as the Me to We Club, but students must apply and fundraise for themselves. One of Kenya’s participants spoke at last year’s We Day.

“It’s nice because it creates conversation, not only among our kids, but also in the school. It gives us a common goal, or something that we’re trying to achieve,” Magill said. “Those kids that go on the trip will be really good advocates.”

This year’s We Day Alberta had a star studded lineup: Nelly Furtado and Shawn Desman performed, while speakers included Magic Johnson, Martin Luther King III, and We Day founders Craig and Marc Kielburger.

“We earn spots through our fundraising hours,” Magill said. “Part of it is designed to be a reward and a positive experience for those kids that spend all that time volunteering. Then the other part is motivational, and trying to open their global perspective and understanding.”