Werklund Foundation and WE Partner to Further Expand Youth Service Learning Programs Across Canada

TORONTO, March 13, 2018 /CNW/ - Today, Werklund Foundation and WE announce a new partnership that brings to life a shared dream of engaging every young Canadian across the country in service learning. Through combined values rooted in youth engagement, the two organizations are teaming up to set the foundation for a comprehensive national youth service strategy to equip all young Canadians with the academic knowledge, personal skill development and social engagement they need to become true leaders of social change in their communities.

"Since 2006, Werklund Foundation has invested in the country's most important asset: our youth," said David Werklund, President & Chairman of the Werklund Foundation. "By developing a partnership with WE, we're on a path towards not only deepening service learning experiences for youth across the country, but also expanding the social impact created by changemakers from coast-to-coast."

Through the Werklund Foundation's commitment, WE's service-learning program, WE Schools, will be available to even more classrooms across the country, adding to the more than 7,000 schools and groups in Canada that already take part in the program. WE Schools not only motivates students to explore social issues they are passionate about through cause-based curriculum and content, but also guides them through the process to develop an action plan to create meaningful change. In the 2016/2017 school year youth collectively volunteered 4.1 million hours in support of both local and global causes.

Immediate impacts of Werklund's partnership will be recognized through continued growth and momentum of WE Schools' Indigenous and leadership programs. Werklund's contribution will expand WE's Indigenous Programming to even more communities. Created in partnership with Indigenous communities, the programing engages and motivates thousands of First Nations, Metis and Inuit youth to become leaders in their communities through tailored leadership training that helps youth develop the tools and skills needed to tackle the issues that matter to them. Werklund's support will also grow WE's Leadership Programs by introducing unique mentoring opportunities to students and educators and by expanding service learning resources to ensure greater availability to youth from all communities across the country.

"Through the generous commitment of the Werklund Foundation, we are establishing the building blocks for a comprehensive national youth service programming that could redefine leadership and citizenship for a generation of young leaders in every community across the country," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE. "By expanding existing programming and resources, we are equipping youth with the academic knowledge, personal skill development and civic engagement they need to become true leaders of social change in communities across Canada."

Visit WE.org for more information about WE's programming. 

About Werklund Foundation
The Werklund Foundation was formed in 2006 as a vehicle to engage and inspire Werklund family members in philanthropy to make a material positive change in the lives of youth. Built upon a family's values and beliefs, the Werklunds recognize the value of leadership education and consider investing in our youth a responsibility. The Werklund Foundation's mission is to transform communities by inspiring youth to achieve their full potential.

About WE
WE Charity is part of WE - a family of organizations making doing good, doable. WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change, ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity, and WE Day, filling stadiums around the world with the greatest celebration of social good. WE enables youth and families to better the world – supporting 7,200+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service, shopping daily with an impact, and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world. Globally, our teams in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,000 schools and schoolrooms overseas, and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education. WE was founded more than 20 years ago by social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Join the movement today at WE.org.

SOURCE WE Charity

Shannon Knutson, Executive Assistant, Werklund Foundation, [email protected]; Kayla Ciaschi, Manager, Public Relations, WE Charity, [email protected]