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We Day returning to MTS Centre this autumn

By: Melissa Martin

Posted: 05/28/2012 10:44 AM | Comments: 0

Co-founders of Free The Children, Craig (right) and Marc Kielburger during the We Day event in Winnipeg at the MTS Centre last November. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

It was the socially minded party so nice, we’re doing it twice: We Day will return to the MTS Centre on Oct. 30 for a second Winnipeg event.

Last November, the rockin’ humanitarian gathering brought 18,000 Manitoba high-school students to the arena to check out inspiring speeches and musical performances centered around local and global do-gooding. This time around, organizers promise, the vibe will be even bigger.

"We’re so excited," said Free The Children co-founder Marc Kielburger during an interview with the Free Press last week. "We were so overwhelmed by the sense of community, and the sense of support throughout Manitoba. It was something so special, and very unique."

While Free The Children -- a Canadian non-profit founded in 1995 when Kielburger and his brother Craig were only teens themselves -- has held We Day events across Canada, what stood out in Manitoba was the support from across private and public sector, Kielburger said.

The first Winnipeg We Day was launched when a group of Manitoba business leaders including Hartley Richardson, Mark Chipman and Bob Silver approached Free The Children to bring the event here.

The province joined in to support a year-round curriculum which saw dozens of provincial schools tackle local and international humantarian projects. Among those initiatives, 70 Manitoba high schools learned about aboriginal education in the province, and 82 participated in a special food bank drive for Halloween. And over 17,000 Winnipeg students took part in a ceremonial one-day vow of silence to call attention to children’s rights around the world.

A second We Day on the calendar will help schools build on what was started, Kielburger said. "We want to take a moment to celebrate what has been accomplished," he said. "A young person doesn’t turn 18 and suddenly develop a social conscience. This takes years of engagement. Just like how we do math classes every year, we have to take civic engagement very seriously, and make it part of the fabric of who we are and what we believe in."

That fabric won’t just be woven in Winnipeg, either. A new, five-year partnership with RBC Canada will see We Day launch in eight cities this school year -- including Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax -- making it the largest season in the event’s history. The multimillion-dollar support from RBC means more potential than ever to establish a national culture of volunteerism amongst Canada’s youngsters, Kielburger said.

"We Day is going national," Kielburger said. "This is something we dreamed of when we were young people, and never had. We’re excited for what happens in five and 10 and 15 years from now."

Though details about headlining acts and speakers will come out in due time, Kielburger did reveal one speaker set to take the stage at the MTS Centre in October -- author Liz Murray, who grew up on the streets of the Bronx as a child of drug-addicted parents, and later went on to earn a scholarship to Harvard University. Murray’s life story was later parlayed into a movie and a 2010 bestselling memoir.

The issue of homelessness, as well as First Nations education and bullying, will figure prominently at this year’s event, Kielburger said.

Last year’s Winnipeg We Day headliners included former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Canadian rockers Hedley, actor Mia Farrow and former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

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