Free the Children

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Free the Children
Formation 1995
Type non-profit organization
Headquarters Canada Toronto, Canada
Founder Craig Kielburger
Key people Marc Kielburger
Website freethechildren.com

Free The Children is a children's charity founded in 1995 by children's rights advocate Craig Kielburger.[1] The organization is largely youth-funded, specializing in sustainable development in six marginalized countries: Kenya, Sri Lanka, India, Ecuador, Sierra Leone and China.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] History

Craig Kielburger, age 12, on his first trip to South Asia

Free The Children was founded in 1995 by Craig Kielburger when he was 12 years old. Kielburger was reading through the Toronto Star newspaper before school one day when he came across an article about the murder of 12-year-old Pakistani factory worker Iqbal Masih who had spoken out against child labour.[4][5][6]

Soon after, Kielburger established Free The Children with a group of his 12-year-old classmates. The organization was devoted to exposing child labour to North Americans and encouraging other children to get involved in the issue.[7] In an attempt to learn more about child labour, he then travelled to South Asia to meet child labourers and hear their stories first-hand. It was on that trip in 1995 that Kielburger captured the attention of the media (in Canada and, to a lesser extent, the United States) when he secured an impromptu meeting with then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien who was visiting Southeast Asia for a trade delegation. Kielburger attempted to persuade Chrétien to bring the subject of international child labour onto the Canadian Government's radar.[8]

After returning home to Canada, Kielburger and his friends at Free The Children began taking on fundraisers and petitions in order to help fight child labour. Along with his brother Marc, Kielburger grew the small organization into a full-fledged registered charity.[9]

In 1999, at the age of 16, Craig Kielburger authored Free the Children, a book detailing his journey to South Asia four years earlier and the founding of his charity.[10] The book was re-released in 2007 with Me to We Books.[11]

In the years since its founding, Free The Children has focused its efforts less on eradicating child labour, and more on eradicating the barriers to children's education in the developing world. According to the organization's website, their goals are to "Free children from poverty and exploitation and free young people from the notion that they are powerless to affect positive change in the world."[12] Today, they have built more than 500 schools in developing regions worldwide and established three offices in Canada (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver[13]) and one office in the United States (Palo Alto, California[14]).

[edit] Development work

Free The Children currently implements its Adopt a Village[15] development model in rural communities in six countries: China, Sri Lanka[16], Kenya[15], Sierra Leone, India and Ecuador. Adopt a Village is made up of four components: education, health care, alternative income, and clean water and sanitation. Among other projects, Adopt a Village builds schools and water wells, and provides medical treatment and income sources to the developing regions.[17] These projects are designed to address the root causes of poverty and remove the barriers to children’s education in the developing world.[18]

In 2008, Free The Children celebrated the construction of its 500th school.[2]

[edit] Funding

Free The Children’s funding comes largely from young people.[19] In classrooms and youth groups across North America, young people fundraise for Adopt a Village with independent fundraising campaigns or Free The Children’s organized campaigns.[20] A portion of Free The Children’s funding also comes from independent adult supporters, grants and corporate groups. A final portion of the organization’s funding comes from its partner company, Me to We, a social enterprise that donates 50 percent of its net profits to Free The Children and reinvests the rest to grow the social enterprise.[21][22][23]

[edit] National Me to We Day

[edit] Me To We Day 2007

Free The Children founders Craig and Marc Kielburger at National Me to We Day

Me to We day is an event aimed at educating young people about global issues and encouraging them to fundraise for Free the Children. The first Day occurred on October 17, 2007, at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum.[24] Speakers and performers included:

• Justin Trudeau
• Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire
• Canadian Olympian Mark Tewksbury[25]
• Ben Mulroney, co-host of eTalk
• Cast members from Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Former child soldier Michel Chikwanine
• Hanson
• 2007 Canadian Idol winner Brian Melo
• Activist and author Irshad Manji
• MTV (Canada) host Jessi Cruickshank
• Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger

[edit] Me To We Day 2008

Students at Me to We Day
Hosts of Me to We Day 2008, Tanya Kim and Ben Mulroney

In 2008, Free The Children held their second annual National Me to We Day, again at the Ricoh Coliseum.[26] Speakers and performers for that event included:

• Mia Farrow
• Justin Trudeau
• Ben Mulroney, co-host of eTalk
• Tanya Kim, co-host of eTalk
• Cast members from Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Former child soldier Michel Chikwanine
• MTV (Canada) host Jessi Cruickshank
• Crash Parallel
• Sarah McLachlan
• Canadian Idol judge Farley Flex
• 2008 Canadian Idol winner Theo Tams
• Celebrity designer Nate Berkus
• Canadian politician Dalton McGuinty
• Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger • Jonas Brothers • Justin Bieber

[edit] Me to We Day 2009

In 2009 Me to We Day now renamed "We Day" was hosted at GM Place in Vancouver and the Air Canada Center in Toronto. Also an event is being hosted at Hamilton Place in Hamilton on November 5.

[edit] We Day Vancouver

We Day Vancouver was hosted at GM Place for the first time ever on September 29 after the successful opening of the Vancouver office. Free the Children invited their West Coast neighbours to a night of celebration and entertainment at 'West Fest'.

GM Place accommodated more than 16,000 students on the day. Each attendee was given a bag containing two books, 'Free The Children' and 'The World Needs Your Kid', a magazine featuring interviews with some of the motivational speakers, articles on the two brothers and lots of ideas, information and activities. Each bag also contained a "World Coin". The World Change Foundation were privileged to present the world coin to honour all ambassadors of change. Coins can be registered at www.theworldchangefoundation.com

Many of the Me to We products and books were sold at concession stands at each gate entrance including Robin Wiszowaty's newly released memoir, 'My Maasai Life'.

The speakers included:

The musicians who performed included:

[edit] We Day Toronto

We Day Toronto was hosted at the Air Canada Center for the first time, to accommodate for the growing demand and popularity which Ricoh Coliseum was not capable of accomidating for. More than 16000 students were in attendance. Many of the former sponsors returned including Telus and Aviva, also bags were given to each of the attendees with two books in them, several catalogues showcasing the Me To We clothing brand and in some though a limited number a "World coin" was included.

A large emphasis was placed on the products and books which the Me To We organization sells. A large number of Me To We T-shirts and sweaters were sold at concession stands for each gate entrance along with books written by the Kielburger brothers.

The Speakers included:

The Musicians who performed included:

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.wpirg.org/freethechildren
  2. ^ a b http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/education/nav03.cfm?nav03=81839&nav02=31353&nav01=13173
  3. ^ http://www.schoolchains.org/school/free-the-children-canada
  4. ^ http://www.newint.org/easier-english/child_labour/iqbal.html
  5. ^ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kids+helping+kids:+...+help+Craig+Kielburger+make+the+world+safer+for...-a030582355
  6. ^ http://dbase.freethechildren.com/news/1999/Guideposts_November_1999.pdf
  7. ^ http://dbase.freethechildren.com/news/1998/New_Design_Article_Fall_1998.pdf
  8. ^ http://www.hillconnections.org/ri/kielburger1ap.htm
  9. ^ http://dbase.freethechildren.com/news/1999/Yes!_Fall_1999.pdf
  10. ^ http://www.amazon.ca/Free-Children-Fights-Against-Proves/dp/0613215648/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237489128&sr=8-1
  11. ^ http://www.metowe.com/books/freethechildren/
  12. ^ http://www.freethechildren.com/aboutus/index.php
  13. ^ http://www.enfantsentraide.org/
  14. ^ http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=11036
  15. ^ a b http://www.strathroyagedispatch.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1327699
  16. ^ http://www.gulfnews.com/World/General/10250177.html
  17. ^ http://www.razoo.com/organization/Kids-Can-Free-The-Children
  18. ^ http://www.schoolchains.org/es/school/free-the-children-canada
  19. ^ http://www.theculturalconnect.com/magazines/asia/2006-07-20/nonprofit
  20. ^ http://www.canadian-universities.net/News/Press-Releases/February_22_2006_Free_The_Children_Mount_Allison_Vow_of_Silence_Mar.html
  21. ^ http://www.metowe.com/aboutus/charity/
  22. ^ http://www.freethechildren.com/donate/docs/audit-Canadian2007.pdf
  23. ^ http://www.freethechildren.com/donate/docs/audit-USA2007.pdf
  24. ^ http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/2007/10/17/4582432-sun.html
  25. ^ http://www.thestar.com/Special/Article/267681
  26. ^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVShows/20081015/ctv_release2_20081015/20081015?hub=Corporate&subhub=PrintStory

[edit] External links

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