Voices International - November 2005

Youth in Action Group Updates
Regional Updates

  

British Columbia

British Columbia is teeming with university Youth in Action groups!

Simon Fraser University (SFU), located in Vancouver, British Columbia, is proud to announce the newest addition to their consortium of campus clubs: Free The Children SFU.

This fledgling club participated in its first official campaign this October, Halloween for Hunger! Groups of two to four university students—ecstatic about the excuse to once again don costumes and collect goodies—went door to door in their neighbourhoods collecting non-perishable food items. They fully embraced the idea behind Halloween for Hunger: think globally and act locally.

imageEnglish Bay, Vancouver, British Columbia

As Craig mentioned in his blog, the downtown Eastside of Vancouver is known as the “poorest postal code in Canada.” The food banks are essential resources for many people living in this area, and often times, especially far from Thanksgiving or Christmas, supplies are lacking. Thank you to everyone in British Columbia that participated in Halloween for Hunger and helped out!

~Emily and Hilary
emily@freethechildren.com
hilary@freethechildren.com

imageHalloween for Hunger at McGill University in Montréal

Quebec

Halloween for Hunger just happened in Québec and it was a HUGE success!  We had many Youth in Action groups out on Halloween night; congratulations to everyone who participated!

Since then, I’ve been indulging in samosas! The McGill University Youth In Action Group kicked off November with an awesome Samosa Sale. There will be more sales this month, and every month after that. They’re a great way to fundraise, raise awareness, and enjoy a terrific (and affordable) lunch. Coming up in November, we also have our second regional meeting, in-school information booths, a 25-hour fast, and the “Party for Peace” benefit concert! It’s going to be fun—I hope to see you there!

~Jaclyn
jaclyn@freethechildren.com

   

Atlantic Canada

Halloween for Hunger was a huge success on the East Coast! Treat-or-treaters were out in droves, having a blast collecting goodies and trying to scare their friends. They were also collecting canned food for our local food bank as part of Free The Children’s annual Halloween for Hunger campaign.

As I walked in the direction of my apartment, I ran into a 13 year-old kid who was trick-or-treating with his mom.

I asked him if he’d gotten a lot of treats. Through the chocolate bar he was chewing on, he said, “Yeah, and I also got food!”

imageHalloween for Hunger, Mount Allison University, New Brunswick

“Really,” I replied, as I looked inside his bag and saw the canned food and boxes of instant macaroni. “Are you part of Halloween for Hunger?”

“Nope”, he said, “I don’t even know what that is. I just saw people collecting food for the food bank and figured I’d help out.”

He’d just figured he’d help out. How cool is that!? This Halloween night, tons of students from all over the East Coast and North America, joined together in solidarity and decided they’d just “help out.” Because of these efforts, food banks are able to better provide for people in need. I’m still receiving reports of that awesome night from all over the four provinces; keep ‘em rollin’ in!

~Erin
erinblanding@freethechildren.com

Over the Moon & Back Again: Grand River Collegiate’s Amazing Race
By Duncan Nicholls

Kathy Brook is a physical education teacher at Grand River Collegiate in Kitchener, ON. In 2004, mid-way through teaching grade 10 Civics, she had something of an epiphany. “I was constantly telling students in my class that they could be the change in the world,” Kathy explains. “I needed to walk the talk. I saw a need in the world that I felt [our school] could help with.”

image

This conviction prompted Kathy to approach the staff and students of Grand River with the idea of raising money to build a school in Kenya through Free The Children. Eric Willms, Karen Richer, and Tori Adam are three grade 12 students who were involved in convincing their peers that raising $10,000 for people whom they will never meet is actually a good idea.

To raise the funds, Grand River had a great idea: organizing their school’s own version of The Amazing Race. Each team member raised $25 in pledge money to take part, and then teams competed in a variety of group challenges, trying to complete the course in the shortest amount of time. As incentive, prizes were awarded to the top-placing teams and the top fundraisers, and an impressive array of draw prizes was donated by local businesses.

Eric, who was the top individual fundraiser, enjoyed being part of the planning team: “I realize that we’re very fortunate living here, and wanted to contribute in giving back.” Eric’s optimism is echoed by Tori Adam. “It just goes to show what we can do,” Tori says.

All three students are clearly motivated by a strong desire to do something for the greater good. Tori and Karen are each campaigning on their own to raise funds to go on a Leaders Today trip to Kenya to take part in building the school that their peers have made possible.

Six months after Kathy Brook first pitched her vision to the school community, Grand River is well on its way to reaching its renewed goal of $20,000.