Area youth gathered at The Aud on Wednesday to celebrate their contributions to the community and learn more about how they can make a difference globally.
About 6,000 youth and educators were expected to attend the annual event, which encourages youth to give back to the world around them.
The event included appearances by NBA legend Magic Johnson, Senator Romeo Dallaire, activist and actor Mia Farrow and musician Shawn Desman, among others.
Students at the event all shared a similar sentiment, with one telling CTV News "It was amazing, like it was just so inspirational and really amazing."
The day's festivities included motivating music and inspirational videos as well as quieter moments to reflect on the problems around the world.
Johnson told the crowd "You young people coming together for a common good and a common goal, and that's to help people every single day and that's powerful right there."
We Day is an event created by Free the Children, an organization that promotes activism among young people. The first We Day event was held in 2007.
As Farrow shared stories of her travels to Africa, she also expressed her hopes for the younger generation, "If each and every child reached out to a child, whole communities would be lifted up."
Senator Romeo Dallaire discussed his traumatic experiences as the commander of the UN forces in Rwanda during the genocide.
But he also shared his optimism and amazement at what today's youth are able to accomplish, as opposed to his weekly five cent charitable donations as a child.
"Compare that to what these kids are doing now, building schools, sustaining them, and in fact moving the yard sticks with their parents and adults and communities. What a revolution."
It was evident early in the day that the speakers' words were having an impact, with one student saying "The things that these guys do, it's just mind blowing. I want to be a part of this now."
