The event, which takes place at Rogers Place, is the first of five youth-empowering WE Day events taking place across Canada between now and February.
Started as Free The Children in 1995 by child's rights advocate Craig Kielburger, and rebranding in late 2016 as WE Charity, WE focuses on empowering young people to improve their world for the better. One of the key attributes of the organization's marquee WE Day events is that you can't buy a ticket to get into one. The only way young people can get into a WE Day is to commit to helping out — collecting food for a food bank, raising money for a charity or volunteering for a cause — in both a local and a global-looking capacity.
WE Charity says more than 200,000 students from over 10,000 schools have attended WE Day events in the last year with another 750,000 people tuning into their programming via WE Day Connect.
The full list of announced participants for WE Day Alberta includes Abdul-Jabbar, Kissel and Edwards as well as Nasra Adem, Darrell Bretton Jr., Celebrity Marauders, Grace Dove, Noor Fadel, Mohammed Faizy, Sarain Fox, Rick Hansen, illFX Entertainment & Education, Anthony Johnson & James Makokis, Theland Kicknosway, Craig Kielburger, Silken Laumann, Wali Shah, Maddison Tory, Trinity Tratch, Spencer West, Chloe Wilde, Daya, and Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine.
WE Days aren't the only WE Charity initiatives. Some of their other programs include WE Schools, an "innovative series of experiential service-learning programs that engage educators and youth globally," WE Villages, an anti-poverty program that helps communities improve education, water, health, food and opportunity, and WE well-being, a program that "empowers youth, educators and families with tools and resources to promote their own well-being and the well-being of their community."
Upcoming Canadian WE Day events:
Oct. 22 Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
Oct. 30 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
Nov. 19 Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Dec. 10 Ottawa, ON @ National Arts Centre
Feb. 3 Montreal, QC @ Théâtre St-Denis
Watch Keshia Chanté discuss mental health for WE Day
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