On Friday I attended a media event celebrating the one year anniversary of the launch of Spring’s One Brick at a Time campaign for War Child.

The event was held in Spring’s Toronto Eaton Centre store and on hand to speak about the accomplishments of this campaign was Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder of War Child North America and all five members of the Canadian band Simple Plan, who lent their image and support to raise awareness and funds for this project.

Spring entered this partnership with War Child at the start of the global recession in 2008 and since then has sold 30,000 stylish leather bracelets. One hundred per cent of the profits from the bracelets are used to create sustainable schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thus far, the One Brick at a Time campaign has built two schools providing a centre of learning for over 600 students.

Sitting around all the fashionable footwear in the store, I had the opportunity to watch a video montage of how War Child used the proceeds from the bracelets to create these schools. Brick-by-brick, I was shown how a vacant piece of land was transformed through hard work and by using the simplest materials, such as metal sheets and brick to create a structure and then furnish it with desks, chairs and a chalk board.

Dr. Nutt told us that one of the questions she asks children in developing nations is, “What do you want the most?” And no matter where in the world the children are, the answer she often receives is “I want to go to school.” She spoke passionately and expressed War Child’s thanks and admiration for Simple Plan’s and Spring’s commitment to the cause, and I also commend their efforts in making a difference in the world.

To support the One Brick at a Time campaign, bracelets can be purchased for $5 at any of the 156 Spring stores worldwide or online here.

Photos taken by Kimberly Lyn