Young humanitarians share time in the spotlight

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/05/2015 (4012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Manitoba Teachers’ Society honoured 31 students Wednesday for the compassion, drive and humility that earned them Young Humanitarian Awards.

Students from four school divisions in Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg received awards during a ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel.

“The Young Humanitarian Awards just might be the best evening of our year,” MTS president Paul Olson said in a news release. “The YHAs honour the goodness of students who choose to work hard in caring about and for others.”

The youngest humanitarian, Brooklyn Maguathi, a Grade 3 student from Riverview School in Brandon, saw her first effort to help the Canadian Cancer Society (when she was four) grow from a lemonade stand into a $1,000 donation. At six, she was inspired by We Day motivational speaker Spencer West to walk 20 kilometres with her mom and aunt, raising $1,200 for clean drinking water.

Last year, she started a successful school-supply drive, said Olson. This year, she has raised $2,500 toward her $10,000 goal to build a school for Third World children.

When she was 10, said MTS, Jenna Sigurdson learned her dad, Blair, was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease.

Since then, the Grade 8 student at École George McDowell in St. Vital has been raising awareness by educating people, raising funds by knocking on 2,000 doors, organizing school fundraisers, and appearing on Breakfast Television and CJOB and in the Free Press. She has raised $40,000 in hopes of finding a cure for the disease, said MTS.

Kirsten Trimble’s reputation for good works followed her from middle school to Portage Collegiate Institute. When she got there, she became active in the social justice group, Teens Against Distracted Driving, and the school’s first Gay Straight Alliance.

Olson said she plays a key role in a local elementary school’s breakfast fundraising program, Coffee House for Change, the Fair Trade and We are Silent campaigns. Currently, the Grade 11 student is working on a craft day for mothers and children, a campaign to build a school in Nicaragua and raising money for her GSA to attend a national conference.

The 28 members of Global Kidizens from École J.B. Mitchell in River Heights have incredible hearts and energy to match, Olson said.

This year, the grades 5 and 6 students reached out to their community and around the world with three major projects. The first raised $2,500 for Winnipeg Harvest’s baby formula drive (it grew to $10,000 after corporate sponsors joined in). Next was a push to raise enough food for 30 to 40 families for the Christmas Cheer Board. And the group also raised $300 for a well in Zimbabwe and $400 to buy goats in developing countries. The Kidizens work hard to make a difference globally and here at home, MTS said.

Each Young Humanitarian Award comes with a medal, framed certificate and a monetary prize. For complete details on the awards, go to mbteach.org.