By Sarah Klein
Actor Martin Sheen will be one of the headliners at this year’s We Day at MTS Centre on October 30. (HANDOUT)
A one-day youth empowerment event in Winnipeg will feature a roster of big name celebrities to help deliver the message.
We Day Manitoba is returning to the city October 30, where 16,000 local youth will pack MTS Centre for a day of inspiration, music, and performances.
Martin Sheen, Shawn Desman and Martin Luther King III are some of the celebrities attending, along with international activists and co-founders of Free The Children, Craig and Marc Kielburger.
The event is free to attend for thousands of students selected by their educators who have earned their way through service.
“This growing movement of young people, shifting their perspective from the inward looking ‘me’, to the compassionate ‘we’, is the outlook that will ultimately change the world,” Sheen said in a release. “I have seen how We Day empowers youth to become active citizens, unites them with a shared goal and supports them on their journey. It’s a life-changing movement and I feel privileged to be a part of it.”
We Day 2013 lineup:
- Greg Selinger — Premier of Manitoba
- Sam Katz — Mayor of Winnipeg
- Martin Sheen — Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor and activist
- Martin Luther King III — Human Rights advocate and eldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Shawn Desman — Platinum-selling, JUNO and MMVA Award-winning recording artist and host of We Day Manitoba
- Neverest — Chart-topping, MMVA nominated Canadian pop-rock band
- Amanda Lindhout — New York Times best-selling author of A House in the Sky, Founder of the Global Enrichment Foundation
- Kenyan Boys Choir — Traditional African male choir, who sang at the 2009 inauguration of President Obama
- Vicente Fox — Former Mexican President and international public speaker
- Robb Nash — Winnipeg native, musician and motivational speaker
- Craig and Marc Kielburger — International activists and co-founders of Free The Children
- Spencer West — Me to We inspirational speaker, Free The Children ambassador, author and double amputee who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on his hands and in his wheelchair in June, 2012
- Molly Burke — Visually impaired Me to We motivational speaker who speaks out against bullying and the power of hope
- Robin Wiszowaty — Me to We motivational speaker, author and Free The Children Program Director in Ghana and Kenya
- Chris Tse — Me to We inspirational speaker, national spoken-word champion and humanitarian
- Youth speakers Hannah Alper and Vishal Vijay
