If you live in the Seattle area, in several major US cities, Canada or the UK, you might already know what WE Day is. It is an event that began as a single chance for kids to improve their communities by identifying issues that need to be addressed and creating solutions for those problems and is now a multi-city, international event that excites over 200,000 youths worldwide about volunteering and making a real difference in their lives an communities. The goal of the program is not only to get youth engaged with volunteerism and community service, but to also help them develop confidence, compassion and skills for life.

This year, one of the major celebrity guests at the Seattle event was none other than Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird. Bird is known to speak at a lot of different children’s events, inspiring the youth of the Northwest region to do their best, follow their dreams, stay fit and stay active in their communities. This year she was also joined by the homegrown Seattle Sounders player Jordan Morris.

The event took place at the KeyArena on Wednesday morning. Bird and Morris appeared on stage at 9:25 to a crowd of more than 15,000 students and teachers who had done community service and service project development for the Seattle area. Like the other speakers attending WE Day, the two athletes discussed how important it was to play a role in the improvement of the community and celebrated the youth who took the time to do so.

In addition to Bird and Morris, celebrities who attended the Seattle event included Star Trek star and Internet sensation George Takei, motivational speaker Spencer West, singer and American Idol judge Paula Abdul, actor Dominic Sherwood, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, actress Bailee Madison of Once Upon a Time and hip-hop artist SOL among many other famous and accomplished faces of the city. Grammy award winning artist Ciara also performed during the event. Attendants were treated to performances, speeches and other fun events as a reward for the hard work they have completed throughout the year. There is even a special WE Day dance that the attendants get to learn and perform together.

For more information or to see photos of the event, click here. The event was sponsored by Microsoft and Allstate. To find out more about WE Day in general, be sure to visit the website.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia