Rosemont We Day youth event in national TV spotlight Friday
In April, some 15,000 students from the suburbs and throughout Illinois came together at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont to celebrate service.
On Friday night, a national television audience will get to see clips from the star-studded youth empowerment event, and learn about some of the youth making a difference.
The commercial-free one-hour broadcast of We Day airs at 7 p.m. on ABC, featuring some of the celebrity performances and motivational speeches from the April 30 event. Among the stars who appeared were host Selena Gomez, Chicago natives Jennifer Hudson and Common, Magic Johnson, Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato and The Band Perry.
The broadcast will address social issues such as bullying, body image, mental illness, ability, access, equality and the environment, officials say.
The Rosemont event marked the first We Day in Illinois, following events in Minnesota, California and Washington State. During the 2014-2015 school year, more than 200,000 youth gathered to celebrate We Day at stadiums in 14 cities in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, where it got its start in 2007.
Students got in for free after beginning work on at least one of two service projects.