Queen’s WE, which is the Queen’s University Chapter of the WE Charity, has announced that they are ending their partnership with the WE Charity. The announcement comes as the WE Charity announced in September that they are closing their Canadian operations.
“While WE Charity is committed to completing their ongoing sustainable development projects around the world, we decided that it was the best decision to contribute to a new organization as WE Charity is planning to close operations in Canada,” The Queen’s WE Team has said in a post to their social media.
In August, YGK News reached out to Brett Scott and Sarah Davis, the Co-Chairs of the WE Chapter. At the time, they cited their concern for the impact that the WE controversy would have on their operations.
“Being associated with the controversy surrounding the WE Charity is going to have its impact in the coming year. Our executive team has 18 members who remain dedicated to the club, and we expect to hire an additional 12 general members at the beginning of the school year. Many of our members have been involved with WE since elementary school and wish to continue making an impact in their local and global communities.” co-chair Brett Scott said to YGK News in August.
The WE Chapter has said in August that they would be “following developments on the matter from WE and media sources throughout the coming months, and will take this information into account when deciding where to direct our funds.”
The group is one of the WE Organizations’ largest student donors and has funded three Adopt-A-Village projects over the past ten years. One of their central goals is to raise funds for the construction of school buildings and sustainable development projects in Kenya. The group was so successful that they attracted the attention of Marc Kielburger, who came to speak at Queen’s University’s Homecoming in 2014. Most recently, Queen’s WE raised $12,000 for the WE Charity in 2019.
In the upcoming weeks, Queen’s WE will be re-launching their club and partnering with a new organization “We are so excited to share with everyone what we have been working on, and the changes we have made to continue to achieve our goals and values as a team,” the statement said.
