The power of youth is often underestimated.

Would you believe the headline ‘Local teens raise over 9,000 dollars for Indigenous communities in need’?

I know I'm still shocked – and I co-organized the fundraiser. For those of you now wondering who I am, my name is Eshal Ali, and I am the 2021-22 Student Trustee for the Upper Canada District School Board. This past April-May, I helped organize and lead the first-ever Student Senate-led initiative in our School Board to raise money for an Indigenous community in need by partnering with Green Iglu.

Through collaborations with over 50 Student Senate members, our 21 secondary schools, and the contributions of thousands of students and staff, we surpassed our initial goals of $5,000 to raise over $9,000 for the Listuguj First Nations community. To learn more about how we managed to accomplish this goal and to learn about the ultimate power of youth, please continue reading!

Something I find quite prevalent is how often youth are underestimated in the world around us. We are often thought to be irrational or blinded by our innocence. However, what most fail to understand is the power youth carry and the self-awareness they have. Although we allow our imaginations to guide our ambitions, they most certainly prove to fall in place with the right amount of determination; this was the very same case for our Student Senate fundraiser.

The UCDSB Student Senate is a group of around 50 highly involved individuals from our multiple secondary schools. It is led by two Student Trustees who Co-Chair all meetings and organize all of the Student Senate's activities. This year, I was pleased to lead the Student Senate with my co-chair Bradford Ward. Every year the Student Trustees have the task of engaging their student senators, which wasn’t much work for us as we had a lively group who were highly motivated to leave the community around them better than they found it. Through our multiple discussions and planning sessions, it became evident that fundraising was a top priority for this year’s Senate. Through prior discussions, Student Senate made it clear that they would like to aid a First Nations community as we recognize the challenges Indigenous communities continuously face and have faced, especially within the past year.

With our combined resources, we were set on a mission. We gave our student senators a month to plan various fundraisers within their schools. However, we set on an adventure of our own, figuring out the logistics of this fundraiser! Through speaking with a mutual contact of the school board, known as Arctic Acres, we quickly learned of Green Iglu. All I have to say is we were absolutely inspired by the work Green Iglu was conducting, and so were our Senators! After a few phone calls, we finalized that we would work with Green Iglu to raise a minimum of $5,000!

It was now officially time for us to put our ambitious goal into action. With only one month, each school had to raise $227, which was reduced to $217 after a generous donation from our Director of Education, Ron Ferguson. With 21 Secondary Schools, our Senators got very creative. We saw fundraisers such as cake auctions, student vs. staff volleyball game buyouts, crazy hat days, bake sales, guessing games, and a root beer float day, among much more!

For a hint of extra motivation, my co-chair Bradford agreed to be pied in the face by our director of education if the goal of $5,000 was met (which it most definitely was)! For those interested, you can find this hilarious video on our Student Senate Instagram, @studentsenateucdsb.

Throughout these board-wide fundraisers occurring, we quickly began to surmount our total. We had thousands of students involved in learning about the wonderful work this organization completed and recognizing that a simple dollar donation was helping the greater good around them. These activities continued throughout April and May, in which we ultimately ended up fundraising an outstanding $9,100+. In addition, many of our students felt re-engaged with their school community. These were some of the larger events starting again after a long period of halted activity due to the pandemic, which greatly affected us all, including the education system.

Throughout these events, we received much attention from the world around us. We began to receive multiple news articles and stories, we started to trend in schools, and we were able to spread awareness about our work and the importance of supporting Indigenous communities. With this attention, it was inspiring to recognize that the community cares about the contributions of youth and ultimately spread the message that the youth care about the community around them.

When Green Iglu informed us that the proceeds from our fundraiser would be going to Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation in Quebec, to support the Alaqsite’w Gitpu School and First Nations Regional Adult Education Center with their greenhouses, the final goal of this fundraiser through all the hecticness became very real. We ultimately felt the change we had made; a plethora of emotions came over all those involved, the most significant being a sense of pride.

Furthermore, having the proceeds go to an education centre was very symbolic. It demonstrates that students are helping other students around them. As a school board and as a previous school board trustee, it is evident that education is a powerful tool. Allowing students to help other students spread this power will most certainly change the world. After all, as Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” 

If you have made it this far, thank you! To conclude, I truly want to say that what a journey. This idea started as a thought which led to two people, to 50 people, to a month of organized activities, thousands of students, and widespread awareness, ultimately bringing us to a significant change! It happened in the blink of an eye, but we would not change anything about it.

Throughout this process, if there is anything we proved, it was that one idea, no matter how far-fetched it seems, can be possible with the right attitude, motivation, a hard-working group of people, and the proper logistics, regardless of age, socioeconomic barriers, gender, religion, etc. If there is a moral to this story, I would say it is to find simple ways to help those around you. Even if it is donating one dollar, it makes a difference, perhaps one larger than it seems; a small change is a big change! Oh, and the second moral of the story is to believe in your youth’s visions. After all, we are the future and it is certainly looking to be very bright if I do say so myself.

If there is a moral to this story, I would say it is to find simple ways to help those around you. Even if it is donating one dollar, it makes a difference, perhaps one larger than it seems; a small change is a big change! Oh, and the second moral of the story is to believe in your youth’s visions. After all, we are the future and it is certainly looking to be very bright if I do say so myself.

Thank you to the 2021-2022 Student Senate, and everyone who contributed to Tomorrow’s Harvest Fund through the Fundraiser!