Kids Up Front: That's the Ticket

If you have ever sat in the upper half of the Saddledome and noticed the empty seats below, or gone to a sold-out concert but noticed a prime spot not being filled, and wondered, “Why aren’t people using their tickets?” you’re not the first.

Eleven years ago, Calgary businessman John Dalziel noticed the very same thing and decided to do something about it. He began the organization Kids Up Front to put unused tickets into the hands of children and youth who would otherwise be unable to afford admission to local events, including Calgary Flames and Stamps games and concerts.

Kids Up Front gathers tickets donated by corporations, individuals and sports teams and distributes them to their partner organizations — including Momentum, Wood’s Homes and the Boys and Girls Club — to get them to kids who otherwise might never get the opportunity.

So far, more than 665,776 tickets have been handed out to kids, valued in excess of $18 million. The Calgary-based charity has also branched out to offices in Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver.

“We believe that exposure to new things can really open up opportunities to the kids,” says executive director Kari Scarlett. “Many of them have never been in a theatre before, seen a ballet or even been in the Saddledome.”

Carrie Mah was one of the many lucky students to benefit from Kids Up Front. Earlier this summer, she scored tickets to the popular Sled Island Music and Art Festival. The growing local music festival has been donating tickets to the all-ages main stage lineup for the past three years. Mah, a Grade 12 student at Lester B. Pearson High School, received two tickets to the main stage show at Olympic Plaza to see the punk band Hot Water Music.

“I’ve never been to an outdoor concert,” says Mah. “It was a great experience.”

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Kids Up Front is hosting a party on October 5 that focuses on how a single ticket can change a kid’s life. “We really believe the experiences we give to kids can inspire them to dream about their future,” says Scarlett. “We have an example of one young man who was able to go to a hockey game, and now wants to be a sports commentator when he grows up. That’s something that touched him.”

And even if seeing an event or concert live for the first time doesn’t inspire a kid to become a musician or the next Don Cherry, Scarlett says there are other benefits. “We all remember the very first concert we got to go to,” she says. “We want to give that experience to kids. That’s a memory you keep forever.”