Co-hosts Nick Robinson and Miss Piggy alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Arkells, Adam Devine, The Muppets, Lilly Singh and more celebrate young change-makers at WE Day Toronto

– Bios, photos and information for WE Day Toronto available on the Electronic Press Kit –
– WE Day Toronto is free to thousands of students thanks to partners led by
National Co-Title Sponsors RBC and TELUS –
– WE Day Family Toronto is supported by partners led by National Co-Title Sponsors
RBC, TELUS and Loblaw Companies Limited –
– Moments from WE Day Toronto will be taped for a special broadcast premiering
Saturday, November 24 at 7 p.m. ET, on CTV –

TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2018 /CNW/ - Today, WE Day returns to Toronto bringing together over 20,000 students and educators to Scotiabank Arena to celebrate young people committed to making a difference. This powerful event features renowned speakers, innovative thought leaders and performers including hosts Miss Piggy and Nick Robinson, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, March For Our Lives Co-Founders Adam Alhanti and Delaney Tarr, Celebrity Marauders, Michael "Pinball" Clemons, Millie Davis, Adam Devine, The Muppets, including Animal, Fozzie Bear and more, Olivia Holt, Jack & Jack, Penny Oleksiak, Mason Ramsey, Jessie Reyez, Lilly Singh, Jacob Tremblay, Margaret Trudeau, Spencer West, Why Don't We and more. Joined by WE co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger, this day of empowerment is made possible by partners led by Co-Title Sponsors RBC and TELUS.

"The young people at WE Day give me hope that a more united world is possible," said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA's All-Time Leading Scorer, NY Times best-selling author and columnist. "The students here are the leaders and activists of today and tomorrow. It fills me with pride to be a part of celebrating their efforts, all while inspiring another year of change."

Speakers and performers at WE Day Toronto will energize the crowd through a day filled with powerful educational speeches, inspirational moments and empowering performances. A few must-see highlights include:

• WE Well-being, a new initiative that empowers youth, educators and families with tools and resources to promote their own mental well-being and the well-being of their communities, will be brought to life on the WE Day stage for the first-time ever with founding partner the Erika Legacy Foundation. Erika's parents, Bill and Sabrina Elkington, will share their emotional journey of well-being, inspiring young Canadians to start a conversation about mental health.
  
  
• Artist Jessie Reyez mesmerizes the crowd in attendance with her hit single 'Apple Juice'.
  
  
• Entertainer and Girl Love Founder Lilly Singh, announces she will be launching her third partnership with WE, #GirlLove 3.0, on her 30^th birthday on Wednesday, September 26. Sales from the share-and-pair Rafiki and necklace will help support girls primary education in Kenya, Ecuador and India.

More than a one-day event, WE Day is connected to the free, yearlong educational program WE Schools. The program is designed to enhance a school or community's existing social initiatives or spark new ones. WE Schools provides participants with curriculum, educational resources and action campaigns, encouraging students to further their curricular learning and develop life skills to succeed beyond the classroom. In the 2017/2018 school year, WE Schools participants across Ontario volunteered more than 1.8 million hours and raised over $6 million in support of over 2,200 local and global causes including hunger, poverty, the environment and bullying.

WE Day is free of charge to students and educators across Canada thanks to the generous support of partners led by National Co-Title Sponsors RBC and TELUS. This means students can't buy a ticket to WE Day Toronto—youth from across the province earn their way by taking action on one local and one global issue of their choice.

"From mental well-being, to homelessness, to bullying, to education, to so much more, the young people coming together today for WE Day Toronto show us that kindness, compassion and inclusivity paired with the determination to do good makes a real impact in the world," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE. "Not only are we celebrating the achievements made by tens of thousands of students, we are continuing to inspire and be inspired as they embark on another school year of creating positive social change."

WE Day inspiration continues beyond today as moments from WE Day Toronto will be taped for a broadcast special that will premiere on Saturday, November 24, 2018 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV and through WE Day Connect, an interactive, online event accessible to students across the globe taking place on Thursday, November 29, 2018.

Following WE Day Toronto, celebrations continue with the third annual WE Day Family Toronto on September 20, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena. Supported by National Co-Title sponsors RBC, TELUS and Loblaw Companies Limited, families will enjoy an evening of music and inspiration while continuing to learn how to make their local communities, and the world, a better place. Families unable to be a part of the action can watch from home at WE.org/watchweday. For tips and social actions that are easy to build into families' busy lives, as well as to sign up for the weekly WE Families newsletter, visit: WE.org/we-families.

WE Day Toronto is supported by local co-chair Kris Depencier, Regional President, Greater Toronto, RBC. WE Day Family Toronto is supported by Jon Levy, CEO and Co-Founder, Mastermind; and Erica Ehm, CEO and Creative Director, Ehm & Co, YummyMummyClub.ca. Nationally, WE Day is supported by Jennifer Tory, Chief Administrative Officer, RBC; Darren Entwistle, President and CEO, TELUS; Elio Luongo, CEO, KPMG Canada; Bill Thomas, Chairman, KPMG International; Andrew Williams, CEO, DHL Canada; Jeffrey Latimer, President, Jeffrey Latimer Entertainment; The Honourable David C. Onley, Former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario; and Chief Perry Bellegarde, National Chief, Assembly of First Nations. Globally, WE Day is supported by Dave McKay, President and CEO, RBC; Hartley Richardson, President and CEO, James Richardson & Sons Limited; David Aisenstat, CEO, Keg Restaurants Ltd.; and Craig Burkinshaw, Co-Founder, Audley

About WE
WE Day 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, WE teams in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,500 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.

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About RBC
www.rbc.com/futurelaunch

About TELUS
www.telus.com/endbullying

About Loblaw Companies Limited
www.loblaw.ca

SOURCE WE Charity

For further information: on WE Day or to request an interview, please contact: Sarah Evans, Associate Director, Public Relations, WE Day, 1-647-462-0654, [email protected]; Camila Ossa, Associate Director, Public Relations, WE Day, 1-647-459-4460, [email protected]