Inspired. That's Makenzie Jesse.
You might also say she is inspiring.
Monday, the Grade 7 Battleford Central School student rode the last kilometre of a 100 kilometre journey to raise some $5,000 for a well in Kenya.
"This might not seem like a lot of km for some people," says 13-year-old Makenzie in her blog, "but I have cerebral palsy and it is a lot of km for me."
Cheryl Dyck, co-ordinator for the school's Me to We Club says the young Me to We member has done an amazing job, first in taking on a major physical challenge, starting a blog and posting her information and ultimately raising $5,000 in donations.
Makenzie has been cycling one kilometre per day for the last 100 days. Her mom, Shalain, says Makenzie has been faithfully cycling on her stationary bike, often with the family around her, cheering her on. She's even improved upon her endurance, she said, from needing about 20 minutes to cycle a kilometre to 10 minutes.
Having had cerebral palsy all her life, from a birth injury, Makenzie is able to walk, but she is non-verbal and experiences some learning difficulties. At school, she has the help of an educational assistant.
Despite her disabilities, Makenzie is outgoing and likes to get involved in school activities, communicating fluidly in sign language and by iPhone voice capabilities.
Her family has been in the Battlefords about a year and a half, and shortly after they enrolled at Battleford Central School, her six-year-old brother came home to announce, "Mom, Mackenzie's famous!"
That's typical of wherever Makenzie goes, says her mother. She's always making new friends and going out of her way to help.
"She's always thought of others before herself," says her mother. Her birthday money, for example, generally goes toward helping someone else.
She enjoys taking part in the Me to We program, especially its participation in Operation Christmas Child, an international project which sends gift-filled shoeboxes to children living in the developing world. Makenzie has used her birthday money to add Barbie dolls to these boxes.
She also loves to bake, and is always happy when somebody wants some cupcakes. Her favourite television shows are Cake Boss and other baking shows, and it's likely she will be involved in baking somehow when she grows up, says her mom.
Makenzie has been to Me to We days in Toronto and in Calgary, and they have been sources of inspiration for her. After learning about an exciting new project aimed at providing clean water to thousands of people in developing communities, she decided to take on her 100-kilometre challenge. She has been inspired particularly by Spencer West, who lost both legs at age four, but who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro this year to raise money for water wells in Kenya.
If Me to We is about transforming people into world changers, one action and one experience at a time, Makenzie is an example of its power.
The international movement of Me to We began with the two brothers who founded Free The Children, an internationalcharityandeducational partner believing in a world where all young people arefree to achieve their fullest potential as agents of change.
Through their work with Free The Children, Craig and Marc Kielburger saw how every great change begins with small, positive actions - and how such actions not only help humanity as a whole, but transform the life of the individual taking action. With input from the world's leading experts on social action, they turned this idea into a philosophy of social entrepreneurship to support Free The Children's work at home and abroad.
Through Me to We individuals may learn from speakers who carry a message of action and hope, develop leadership skills for global change, provide consumers with better choices for a better world, even travel to help build schools.
In addition, Me to We is also structured to offset Free The Children's expenses and help provide pro bono services to its efforts. Since 2009, Me to We has donated $4 million to Free The Children through cash and in-kind donations.
The Battlefords Central School Me to We Club, started in 2011, is dedicated to raising awareness of social issues such as homelessness, hunger, creating environmental change in our own community, as well as larger social issues across the globe.
This past October, 195 students and adults from the Battlefords, including 18 students from BCS attended We Day in Calgary. They heard from speakers such as Larry King, Liz Murray, Spencer West, Martin Sheen, Ashley Callingbull, and Molly Burke.
