Heather Latter
Dexter Fichuk is spearheading a campaign throughout the region to spread the “Me to We” philosophy of creating positive social and environmental impacts in our local and global communities.
The Grade 11 student at Fort Frances High School will be the leader of the Northern Ontario (Mob)ilizers, a group aimed at holding events and fundraising to champion the cause of social change.
“The Northern Ontario ‘Mob’ will start with Fort Frances, but then hopefully in January we will get it launched in Thunder Bay, Kenora, Dryden, Rainy River, Atikokan, and other towns in this half of the province,” stressed Fichuk.
He explained in past years “Mob” cities have competed to see who can raise the most money.
But with small communities having a significantly lower population than larger centres, Fichuk didn’t think the competition was fair, which is why he approached the organization about creating a regional “Mob” instead.
Prizes for raising the most funds could include having speakers like Craig Kielburger talk here.
Kielburger in 1995, at the age of 12, had his eyes opened to the harsh realities of child labour.
Upon starting up a school-based club to raise funds and awareness, his passion for change grew into “Free the Children,” which he founded with his brother, Marc.
It is now an international phenomenon with more than one million youths in North America taking action for a better world.
“Me to We” supports the “Free the Children” organization.
“It’s not just about the prizes, but it adds more motive and initiative for people to want to do it,” Fichuk noted.
Fichuk has been involved in two organizations at school under the same philosophy—No One Should Suffer (N.O.S.S.) and Saving Faces, which have held events such as the “30-hour Famine,” a “Vow of Silence,” and “Halloween for Hunger.”
“The idea was good, we did fundraising, but we realized what we’re missing the most is getting people involved and having fun,” he explained.
“It doesn’t always have to be big events. They can be simple, such as having a movie night and everyone bringing $5. It’s easy and fun and we can raise a lot of money,” added Fichuk.
This year, Fichuk is hoping to get as many youth involved as possible.
“It’s all about targetting youth and the schools,” he voiced. “Right now it’s mostly the high school, but we’d like to get all the other schools in town involved, too. The younger kids can fundraise, although probably on a smaller scale, but it will get them started for when they get to high school and we have the larger [fundraising] events.”
He explained he wants to encourage other students to share the things they are good at.
“We want to recruit kids for their talents and passions, whether its photography, music, or art and try to use their gifts,” he said. “If someone is passionate about art, maybe they can help us create a logo because we’d like to get t-shirts made. If they like writing, the could help write weekly updates about what the group is doing.”
The local “Mob” is planning to start a website where kids can get resources, work on something to help out, or generate ideas.
They also want to launch a program called “Mob Music” where local artists can sell their music online, with half the proceeds going toward the fundraising cause and the other half going to the musician to help them.
Fichuk will be attending a “Mob” event in Toronto later this month where he and other leaders from across Canada will discuss ideas and plan for the upcoming year.
“We’re hoping to have a kick-off party in September to get people involved and explained what the year’s going to be like,” he noted, adding FFHS is planning to send a group of students to attend “Free The Children’s We Day” in Winnipeg in November.
The event kicks off a year-long program of action, called “We Schools in Action.” “We Day” is free of charge and open to any school that wants to be part of the experience.
In exchange, each school group that attends is asked to make a commitment to follow the “We Schools in Action” program, which includes taking local and global action throughout the year.
Fichuk admits it’s going to be a pretty big job for him to coordinate the “Mob” for the entire Northern Ontario region, but he’s up for the challenge.
He added he also has a strong core team to assist him.
“The core team plans and organizes the events and the general members help make it happen,” he explained, citing the core team will help him launch the “Mob” in other schools in nearby towns.
“It’s going to be a lot of work to expand it—it’s a large area to cover,” expressed Fichuk. “But it starts with one person and hopefully it will spread and others will help get the message and idea out there.
“Our goal is just to spread the word and get as many people involved as we can,” he added. “I want people to know that this isn’t just for big cities—small towns can make a difference, too.”
He indicated two years ago there were 12 “Mobs” in Canada and last year that number grew to 20. This year there will be 31 “Mobs.”
“It’s mostly still large cities, but hopefully over the next few years, more small towns will start to get involved,” he voiced. “We just want to make it a lot more fun this year and raise some money for a good cause.”
The wanting to join to “Mob” here can visit http://goo.gl/s2I3g to fill out an application.
For more information, e-mail Fichuk at dexterfichuk@gmail.com
