Me to We: Canadian kids help tsunami victims

Wesley's Web work
My son Wesley Smyth is 11 years old. When he heard about the Dec 26th earthquake and tsunami disasters, he was motivated to do something about it. We researched different NGO's accepting aid funds and he decided, since his main area of concern was the children impacted by this disaster, to go with UNICEF Canada. He first registered with UNICEF Canada as part of their Canada Kids Earthquake Challenge and started an online donation page.

When school began again on Jan. 3, Wesley went in to see his principal and told him he wanted to organize a school-wide event to raise money for UNICEF Canada. The next day, they got started with a class-to-class challenge with the kids all bringing money from home. Wesley's campaign lasted from Jan 4 - Jan 11, the deadline for matching funds donated by the government of Canada. Through collecting online donations, personal donations, soliciting donations from nearby businesses and the event at his school, Wesley was able to raise almost $1,200 for UNICEF Canada. With matching funds, of course, that is almost $2,400.

Wesley and his principal went down to UNICEF here in Edmonton to personally bring them the money on the 11th. They were overjoyed. They thanked Wesley and made a huge impression on him, even asking him to be on the radio (which he was interviewed for on the next day). It was a fabulous experience for him and a great way to learn more about helping and making a difference, no matter how old you are.

Allie

The strength of the Canadian dollar
It was an incredible idea, suggested by a grade five girl at Ecole Westhaven Elementary, Alberta in the beginning of January. Her suggestion was for each child in the school to bring a loonie to donate for the aid of the Tsunami victims. It was so successful that the principal, Jo-Ann Reil ran with it and challenged the district to meet or beat their donation. That too flew and took off with great momentum. On a radio interview, Mrs. Reil announced that the children of the Grand Yellowhead Division were challenging the entire province of Alberta to follow in this aide campaign. By the end of that day there was approximately $67,000 and the loonies are still rolling in. I have no idea what the dollar figure is at now but I just want to say to all the children of Alberta. "Way to go!"