Educators Financial Group and Free The Children
Believing that it’s important for organizations to be socially responsible, several years ago we began searching for a way to make a difference, and also give back to the communities we serve. After much deliberation, we chose Free The Children as our corporate charity.
Why we support Free The Children
In doing our research on Free The Children, we were delighted to find that this organization’s values are aligned with our own. We were impressed by the ideals and dedication of founders Craig and Marc Kielburger. Free The Children has a strong focus on education, and is the largest network of children helping children through education.
And Free The Children also has Global Voices, a program we strongly believe in. Global Voices is a free program that Free The Children provides to classroom educators, consisting of tools to help educators nurture global citizenship. It is helping to equip students in our classrooms with the knowledge they need to effect positive change.
Free The Children and Global Voices gives us the opportunity to make a difference and give back to the Ontario education community that we serve.
About Free The Children
Free The Children is the world’s largest network of children helping children through education, with more than one million youth involved in their innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded in 1995 by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has a proven track record of success. The organization has received the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the child (also known as the Children’s Nobel Prize), the Human Rights Award from the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, and has formed successful partnerships with leading school boards and Oprah’s Angel Network.
The primary goals of the organization are to free children from poverty and exploitation and free young people from the notion that they are powerless to affect positive change in the world. Through domestic empowerment programs with schools and leadership training, Free The Children inspires young people to develop as socially conscious global citizens and become agents of change for their peers around the world.
Craig’s story
As a 12-year-old Craig flipped through the Toronto Star in search of the comics, he was struck by a raw, but courageous story of a boy his age named Iqbal. Iqbal Masih was born in South Asia and sold into slavery at the age of four. In his short life, he had spent six years chained to a carpet-weaving loom. After he escaped, Iqbal captured the world’s attention by speaking out for children’s rights and was killed for taking a stance against child labour.
In response to what he read, Craig gathered together a small group of his Grade 7 classmates from his Thornhill, Ontario school and Free The Children was born. Free the children from poverty. Free the children from exploitation. Free the children from the notion that they are powerless to affect change. These were the messages that fuelled Craig’s mission.
Our involvement
Educators Financial Group is proud to support educators both here in Ontario and throughout Canada as well as overseas by working with Free The Children.
By supporting Free The Children’s Global Voices program, Educators Financial Group helps provide educators with tangible tools to bring global education into the classroom. Learn more about our local support.
By supporting Free The Children’s Adopt a Village program in Kenya, Educators Financial Group staff and partners are providing a community with tools and skills it needs to change lives and create long-standing, sustainable change. Learn more about our overseas support.
