weday2014

We Day is a movement of young people that are leading local and global change headed by the charity “Free the Children,” co-founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. I had the amazing opportunity to attend We Day Vancouver this morning, my second year going to the event. Every year this multy-city one of a kind educational events brings together 20,000 youth, educators and friends to listen to amazing speakers and performers. The goal has been to inspire young people to take action and make a difference in their communities.

What I love the most about We Day is that attendees can’t buy a ticket to We Day, they all earn it through service. Through the year-long We Act program schools and groups take on one local and one global action and report back to Free The Children to earn their way to We Day. It is so fantastic, the energy of the young attendees is always contagious.

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Here is a full list of the amazing speakers and performers that we had the chance to see:

Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) – Actress, multi-platinum recording artist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
Orlando Bloom – Actor and humanitarian
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (@macklemore) (@RyanLewis) – Grammy Award-winning hip hop artists
Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) – Canadian singer-songwriter
Debby Ryan (@DebbyRyan) – Musician and actress
Donnie Yen – Martial arts movie icon, actor, director, producer and Free The Children ambassador
Marianas Trench (@mtrench) – Juno Award-winning pop-rock band
Kardinal Offishall (@KardinalO)–  Award-winning rap artist, music producer and Free The Children ambassador
Victoria Duffield (@VDuffield) – Platinum-selling singer, dancer and actor
Cast members from the Emmy-nominated TV series DEGRASSI (@Degrassi)
Shawn Desman (@DaRealSD)–Platinum-selling and Juno-Award winning recording artist
JRDN (@JRDNmusic) – Juno Award-winning artist and Free The Children ambassador
Karl Wolf (@KARLWOLFs) – International recording artist, MTV Europe Music Award winner and Free The Children ambassador
Neverest (@neverestmusic)–Chart-topping, MMVA-nominated Canadian pop-rock band
Silken Laumann (@SilkenLaumann) – Olympian, inspirational speaker, author and child advocate
Kay – Singer, songwriter and rapper
Craig and Marc Kielburger (@craigkielburger) – International activists and co-founders of We Day
Spencer West(@spencer2thewest) – Me to We motivational speaker, Free The Children ambassador and author
Mustafa the Poet(@MustafaThePoet) – 18-year-old poet, writer, actor and emcee
Hannah Alper(@ThatHannahAlper) – 11-year-old Me to We inspirational speaker, Free The Children ambassador, blogger and youth activist
Ashley Rose Murphy(@AshleyRose_FTC)–Motivational youth speaker
Robin Wiszowaty (@robininkenya) – Me to We motivational speaker, author and Free The Children Program Director in Ghana and Kenya
Multi-platinum award-winning performer and actress, Jennifer Lopez made a SURPRISE appearance performing a medley of her greatest hits.

I took my 10 month old with me to We Day. He was the youngest media member at the press conference with Craig Kielburger and Orlando Bloom earlier in the morning. As Orlando got ready to answer questions for the Q&A the very first words he said were: “Hi Baby” directed to my son, in response to his loud babbles! Pretty funny.

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In general my son really enjoyed the lights, music and general excitement of the crowd but the event as expected was very loud. Too loud for little ears. Thankfully last week I connected with Lili from My Little Green Shop and she delivered a pair of Banz Protective Earmuffs for us to use during the show.  The cute earmuffs were a al hit, they protected his ears from harmful noise and allowed him to enjoy the show comfortably. I definitively recommend a pair if you are planning to take your child to any sporting event, concert, or anywhere where  there would be loud noises. They can be used for ages 6 months up to 6 years!

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We Day was very inspirational and a lot of fun. Once again I applaud the efforts of Craig and Marc Kielburger for organizing this huge event every year and creating social awareness and opportunities for young people to get involved and do something for their own communities.

THE GIVEAWAY

Win it: One very lucky Canadian reader will win a pair of Banz Protective Earmuffs from My Little Green Shop like the ones we had a chance to try ($42.95 value!) Enter to win below via Rafflecopter. Good Luck!

Disclosure: I received a sample of a product. No other compensation was provided and and all views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.