Teens celebrate community service with celebrities & more in Seattle

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Some say a good deed is its own reward, but it’s never a bad idea to throw-in a day-long celebration full of celebrities and musicians to help sweeten the deal.

Thousands of teens will be rewarded for their efforts in the community Friday with the We Day celebration at KeyArena.

There are no tickets to buy for We Day. The only way the kids can get in is by doing community service.

As many as 16,000 kids who have been making a difference in their local communities, will be rewarded by motivational speakers like Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Russell Wilson, actors like Edward Norton and musicians.

The goal is simple, give these kids a fun day to reward their good work, encourage them to keep it going and to encourage their friends to get involved in community service as well.

We Day founder Marc Kielburger said many kids think they have to do something big to make a difference, but he says the message is every little bit helps. “There’s an equation that I learned in school that stays with me,” he said. “Gift + issue = change. Every young person is gifted. Every young person has an issue they care about, and all you need to do it put it together. If you care about the issue of homelessness and your gift is hockey, do a hockey tournament for the homeless. It’s literally that easy.”

Natasha Babayan is a senior at Sammamish High School. She tries to encourage her friends by her actions. “They probably don’t understand that not everyone has the same opportunity as we do, here in America,” she said. “I tell them to not be afraid and try one day of volunteering and see what kind of impact they can make.”

Babayan’s pet project is working to build schools in the Philippines, but that’s not all she does. “On the side, we just do a lot of volunteering in our local community, such as literacy nights, forest restoration. All kinds of things.”

Cynthia Tran is a junior at Aviation High School who is also working boosting the educational opportunities for kids in poor countries. She is excited to get even more fired up Friday. “I think the vibe of the whole thing is just going to get me pumped up and make me excited to do even more volunteer work and help improve the world,” she said.

Last year, founder Kielburger dropped a huge surprise on the crowd when Macklemore took the stage. We won’t give away this year’s surprise, but it’s expected to involve that little trip the Seahawks took to New Jersey last month.