The Trillium Lakelands District School Board is highly represented at WE Day.
All told, the board has 27 schools in attendance at today’s annual event in Toronto. The day sees school children from across the country gathering in the city for a full day of speeches and music.
WE Day is a celebration of the WE Charity movement started in 1995 by child’s rights advocates Craig and Marc Kielburger. A number of schools worldwide take part in the WE Movement by doing one local and one global “action for change” during the school year.
Sinead Fegan, the communications officer for the TLDSB, says that the board has been involved with WE Day since it began. Fegan says that each school has their own method of choosing who goes to WE Day, adding that some schools have WEÂ Clubs and some ask for volunteers.
Since the first WE Day in 2007, it has attracted famous speakers throughout the years including Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson, Oscar Nominated Charlize Theron and the late frontman for the Tragically Hip Gord Downie.
This year’s speakers include NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, musical group the Arkells, and Margaret Trudeau.
As a result of the WE movement, one million students have logged 46.4 million volunteer hours, raised $119 million for local and international charities and collected 23 million pounds of food for food banks.