There are defining moments in every change–maker’s life. For some people it is reaching a milestone or goal and for others it is an event, meeting or realization. I’m talking about those stand-out parts of your journey when you just know that you’re on the right path. When I look back, my defining moments all lead back to the WE Create Change campaign in support of Free The Children.
November 2012: Launching WE Create Change at my school
I attended my first WE Day in Waterloo 2012 and like the thousands of students in that stadium in Waterloo, I knew that I wanted to do something. I learned about WE Create Change and how little things, coins in this case, added up to make big change. It was the year that Free The Children dedicated to Clean Water and for $25 collected, clean water would be provided to one person in a developing community for life. It also happened to be the year that Canada was saying goodbye to the penny, so WE Create Change was all about collecting pennies. This moved me because I thought, “Wow. If I got my school to participate in this, imagine the change it would make!” With the support of my Principal and teacher at my school and another school in my neighbourhood, I launched my WE Create Change campaign.
Right then and there, WE Create Change became a force in my life, in my school and in my community. After I spoke at the schools introducing WE Create Change, the lack of clean water in developing communities and what we can do to help, my teachers and friends were eager to act and amazing things started to happen as the pennies piled up. It was motivating and unifying to know that every penny we collected wasn’t just making a difference in another country, it was also making a difference in our school community too. Students who would never have spent time together now were – we came together for a good cause. In working toward a common goal, any of our differences became less important and we, as a community, became stronger. Together, we raised 97, 500 pennies and provided clean water for 37 people for life. That was when I realized truly, how big of an impact people could have when we worked together.
Understanding the power of my voice
On a more personal level, WE Create Change was the first time I stood on a stage to speak in front of a large audience. It was the first time that I saw I could create awareness, motivate and inspire change. Near the end of my speech at my school, I did an activity with them. I said “Raise your hand if you want to create change. Clap your hands if you want to create change. Stand up if you want to create change.” I had 400 students raising their hands, clapping and up on their feet. It was the first time that I saw I could create awareness, motivate and inspire change.
Celebrating the success of WE Create Change
In June of that year, I was invited to participate in the WE Create Change Celebration at RBC where the final results of the campaign were revealed. I sat on a panel of youth and we shared our experience and successes of WE Create Change. I was so happy to be there with Marc Kielburger and the team at RBC when they announced that the results of the campaign were in and that students and communities from all over Canada raised120 million pennies and provided clean water 48,000 people. I was so proud to have been part of creating change on such a huge scale.
After the event wrapped up, Marc asked my parents and I to stick around for a few minutes to talk with him. We stood there, in the big lobby of the RBC building downtown, in our Be The Change t-shirts and Marc invited me to speak on the We Day tour the following year.
The WE Create Change Tour
Every year, WE Create Change has a different theme and focuses on a different issue. In 2012, it was clean water and 2013-2014, it was education. In 2013, I was honored to travel across Canada with Spencer West and Neverest on the WE Create Change Tour. 90 Days. 50 Stops. 1 Epic Tour. We celebrated the change that Canadians (particularly students and teachers) were creating all across Canada. I got to meet so many students that had been doing amazing things to raise $10, 000 to build a school for WE Create Change. The WE Create Change Tour was also a huge moment in my journey because I realized that I was not and will never be alone in making a difference.
WE Create Change at school AND at the office
Just before we headed to Newfoundland to launch the WE Create Change Tour, I had the chance to go to the offices of RBC Insurance to help them launch their own WE Create Change Campaign. I talked to about WE Create Change and how it brought my school together as a community and it can do the same for RBC’s workplace and their offices across the country. That day they launched their own campaign with a goal of raising the $10,000 needed to build a school. When our tour passed through Toronto in May, I went back to RBC’s office where they were ready to announce the results for their WE Create Change campaign. [Drumroll please] They had collected $43, 000! Not just one school, but enough to build 4 SCHOOLS (and then some)! It was so inspiring to see the community spirit that RBC had brought to their workplace. WE Create Change, it’s not just for kids.
Keeping the impact going all year round
Looking back, I am so proud of what I have achieved with my family, school and friends in support of this amazing campaign. However, I know that to continue making an impact I need to look forward as well as back.
This year, the WE Create Change campaign is different from those of the past in that you choose where you want your change to be counted. Free The Children work is committed to 5 pillars: Education, Water, Food, Health or Income. This year WE Create Change invites you to pick your pillar and direct your change. For more information about the campaign and how you can get involved, go here.
This month I will be participating in WE Create Change, but I won’t stop there! I encourage all of you to make an impact all year with simple actions. Collecting change is a great start, but every purchase or transaction you make can also have a lasting impact overseas. A way to make this happen is using RBC’s Free The Children Visa Virtual Debit aka. “A Card That Cares”! RBC donates a portion of every purchase you make to support Free The Children in creating positive change in the world. Since the card was introduced in November 2013, more than $310,000 has been donated to support Free The Children’s developing communities including Kenya, India and Ecuador. You can be part of this incredible growing impact!
The biggest thing I have learned from my journey as a change-maker and from WE Create Change is this: it all adds up. Every penny, every coin, every random act of kindness and every small thing that we do to makes a difference – they all add up to create change.
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