Today I had a very exciting day! I was invited to Free the Children‘s We Create Change wrap-up! We Create Change started when the Canadian penny was going to be phased out and Free The Children thought that people could give their pennies to Free the Children to support their water projects in developing countries. $25 in pennies = clean water for one person for life. This was also the biggest penny drive in Canadian history.
I had the chance to launch We Create Change at two schools and together we collected 97,500 pennies and that provided 37 people with clean water for life. My blog-post with that includes a video of my speech is here: We Create Change: The result and saying goodbye to the penny.
More than 3,000 schools contributed to We Create Change. Some schools even got 180,000 pennies!
Here are the results that Marc Kielburger announced this morning:
(drumroll please)
- 140 million pennies. Wow, that’s a lot of pennies!
- That is 1.4 million dollars ! Wow, that is a lot of money!
- Even better 56, 000 people got clean water for their entire lives. Wow, that is a lot of people!
Here are some facts about these numbers:
- If all the pennies were stacked on top of each other it would end up being 20 times Mount Everest!
- The weight of the pennies is more than 64 African elephants!
- That is 5 empty Boeing 747’s!
Here is the real impact:
- Not only did these people in Africa get clean water but they got something that we take for granted – clean water.
- Also now girls my age can go to school and get a better education. They had to walk miles and miles, hours and hours, just to get water.
- Exactly 56,000 people will be more healthy now because they have access to clean water. Before they drank water that was dirty and contaminated.
- When they get the water it will change their life and they will be so happy and healthy and so much will change for them.
At the We Create Change wrap-up, I had the chance to speak about what I did for We Create Change. I got to see Marc Kielburger and hang out with him (which always makes me happy). We pulled wagons full of pennies in them into the lobby of RBC (the sponsor of We Create Change)Â I could not believe how many penny bags there were in all the wagons! It made them very heavy. It is so inspiring seeing so many young people taking action and to be the change. What I love is that they all believe that they can make a difference. Free The children has empowered them and encouraged them to get involved. We Create Change was a fun way say goodbye to the penny and also you could make a difference and change someone’s life. Every single penny counted. Every penny added up to make a big difference.
Another really big announcement happened this week. Craig and Marc Kielburger will be among the newest inductees to Canada’s Walk of Fame in September. I am so happy for them! They deserve it for all that they have done to live Gandhi’s words: Be the change you want to see in the world. They do this and inspire so many young people like me.
Chris says
Hannah, what else can I say but that you are doing more than providing clean water for children around the world. You are inspiring people to want to make a difference and that’s the most important thing you can do.
Furthermore, you have inspired me to stand up taller for what I believe in and to chase after the dreams I have been too scared to pursue. Keep up the amazing work! I know you are destined for greatness!
Chris
callmehannah says
Thank you so much Chris! I felt so good that 3, 000 schools collected so many pennies to provide people clean water for their entire lives. I loved motivating the students at my two my schools to collect pennies and raise awareness. Your blog makes me want to read and write more and to do more research. Thank you for making me stand tall.
Lyne Proulx says
You are an inspiration to all, especially us adults! Keep up the extraordinary work:)
callmehannah says
Thank you so much Lyne! It means so much to me that people are aware about what is happening to the environment and are either spreading the word or doing something about world or of course just keeping up with the news. Thank you for caring about the environment and helping me make a difference.