Why we can all learn something from #WeDay #Montreal @telus #video

We Day is an event unlike any other. We Day honours, engages and empowers youth to work to be change-makers. It is a one of kind concert for youth where a ticket cannot be bought, it has to be earned. In order to qualify to attend We Day children need to support one local cause and one international cause. The events are free for children to attend thanks to National Co-Title Sponsors RBC and Telus.

As a member of the media who has been graciously invited to attend We Day for the past three years thanks to the wonderful folks at Telus, I have been truly humbled by my experience. For the past two years I have taken my daughter along. At nine years old, she is a little younger than most of the Change Makers in attendance however the impact We Day has on her is palpable.

Telus’s commitment to We Day and Free The Children exemplifies their we give where we live philosophy, focused on educating and empowering youth through the power of technology. That’s why, together with Free The Children, they created We365, a free app that allows young people to use their phone for good and make positive social change, every day of the year. The app enables young people to track and verify their volunteer activities, learn about causes, take daily challenges and rally their friends around topics they are passionate about. Learn more about We365 here.

Since 2007, youth involved in We Day have raised over $45 million for over a thousand causes, volunteered 14.6 million hours for local and global causes and collected 5.6 million pounds of food for charity.

If I had to describe We Day, I could not do so using words alone. To me, We Day is a feeling that is truly revolutionary. 

This year, Ms. B and I had the honour of interviewing several We Day participants. We met with co-founder of Free the Children, social entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author and captivating speaker Craig Kielburger. Craig’s journey as a children right’s activist began when he was 12 years old. What began as a group of a dozen kids passionate about the plight of a child in a third world country has morphed into an international charity that to date has build 650 schools and school rooms in developping countries, providing education to 55,000 children every day.

This We Day, Ms. B and I had a special honour. We had the privilege of meeting Spencer West last year, Ms. B was so captivated to hear him speak that following last year’s We Day she read articles on Spencer, watched his videos and told her friends what an inspiration he is. Spencer speaks about his journey after losing both legs from the pelvis down at the age of five years old to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro using his hands and wheelchair. There is rarely a dry eye in the stadium when Spencer speaks. When Telus arranged for us to conduct a special behind the scenes interview with Spencer, Ms. B turned to me and asked if it would be alright if she interviewed him herself. I am so proud of her, here is the interview with Ms. B, myself and Spencer West. 

Immediately after we left our behind the stage interview with Spencer West, I was contacted by CTV Montreal. They wanted to know if they could interview Ms. B. Here’s their coverage of We Day Montreal. 

One of the things I find heart warming and impressive is when local and international celebrities join forces with We Day, travelling with them, speaking to the audience and becoming Change Makers themselves. We had a great time hanging with the guys from Neverest. We were really impressed to learn about why We Day matters to them. Watch the video here:

I loved meeting children who had attended We Day in the past and were inspired to make a change. One such youth is Alex Deans. The 17 year was inspired by witnessing a blind woman crossing the street when he was 12 years old. Her seeing eye dog had just passed away and she was having a terrible time navigating. It inspired him to brilliantly invent an affordable device called the iAid. See our interview with Alex Deans here:

These interviews are only a glimpse into the inspiration that is We Day. We are so thankful to have been guests of Telus for this event and to have been inspired by amazing children wanting to be the change our planet needs.