T & T Interview: Me to We (Helen Lord and Emma O'Halloran)

“What is Me to We?”
 
It’s a service club; it is a branch of a bigger club the “Free the Children Movement” – in order to free them from child labour, child soldiers and other bad situations. Our club fundraises for those causes. We work towards the bigger picture. At the start of the year, we decide where we want to focus on in the world and which pillar we are focusing on. This year our country is Kenya and our pillar is health.

"What are the pillars?" 

Pillars - Health, opportunity, education, water/food, money
 
“Who can join the club?”
 
Anyone – if you have a passion to change the world, please join. We really like it if you were a committed member – but we understand that contributing comes in many forms.
 
“What are some of Me to We’s projects?”
 
Halloween for Hunger – it is a canned food drive that occurs before the date. Instead of trick or treating for candy you trick or treat for Halloween. Students went ahead of time to their neighbourhood houses and gave them a heads up about what their cause was supporting and what they’d like to trick or treat for, and the response on Halloween was incredible – this year we filled a whole truck! And this week is our Vow of Silence day where students (and staff) sign up and take a vow of silence for a day to better understand what it’s like to have their voice go unheard.
 
“What are some of the roles in the club?”
 
Roles – Sarah Steward, Emma O’Halloran, Helen Lord are the co-leaders (we’ve been involved since grade 8) – responsibilities include handling money and tracking fundraising, collaborating with Ms. Motohashi etc. – we meet every Monday at lunch. Other members share ideas and make decisions collectively, make posters and help organize and run ideas, and run the events!
 
“Does Me to We provide outside of school opportunities?”
 
Yes! This year both Helen and Emma will be travelling to Kenya! The are going to build schools, wells, and help in other ways while they are there.
 
“What is your favourite part of Me to We?”
 
H: when after a month of organizing something, standing back and watching the event unfold, watching it all come together on the day of the event.
 
E – I really like how all of our fundraisers bring our school together. It’s a really nice way to unite the school over a good cause.