Co-founded twenty-five years ago by Craig and Marc Kielburger, the WE Charity (formerly Free the Children) quickly grew into one of the largest youth empowerment organizations in the world. In Canada alone, over 7000 schools participated in WE service campaigns and millions of students engaged in WE programming.
The recent announcement that the WE Charity is ending its Canadian operations will leave an incredible void in our province. Educators relied on the WE Schools programming to support the leadership development of their students and encourage active citizens. Young leaders counted on the platform to help create positive change in their communities.
When WE Day Saskatchewan was cancelled in 2018, passion2action stepped up and created passion2action INSPIRE as important platform to inspire young leaders in our province. Our INSPIRE event is focused on connecting students to local community leaders and celebrating local talents, with the goal of introducing young leaders to new role models. Over 5000 students have attended passion2action INSPIRE events in 2018 and 2020.
Now, as WE Charity ends its domestic programming, passion2action is committed to stepping up and filling the need for grassroots, community-based youth empowerment programming in Saskatchewan. Over the coming months, passion2action will develop toolkits for educators to use in the classroom and will create new resources and build new platforms for young people across the province to develop their leadership skills and take action on the causes they are passionate about.
We encourage all educators, young leaders, and community members throughout Saskatchewan that are interested in getting involved with passion2action to sign-up for our email lists (see below).
As a local, youth-led non-profit organization, passion2action is well-positioned to step up and carry on the important youth empowerment work long-championed by the WE organization. Now, perhaps more than ever before, our communities need young people to be leaders.
We are supporting the leaders of the future, today.
Quotes from Jonah Toth, founder and executive director of passion2action:
- “passion2action was founded in recognition of the need for grassroots, community-based youth empowerment programming in Saskatchewan. We remain committed to supporting the young leaders of our province with the skills, resources, and opportunities they need to take action on their passions.”
- “Our team is excited to step up and build on the success of the WE organization’s programming to help young people throughout our province recognize their potential as agents of change.”