My family and I participated in Disney's Give a Day Get a Day promotion last year. In case you do not remember, Disney offered 1 million people the chance to make a difference in their communities by volunteering for various charities, and in exchange they could receive a free 1 day park ticket, set of FastPasses, or souvenir ear set.
My family worked with a local food bank and we collected over 700 food items that directly benefited our community. We opted for the FastPass option for our December trip and we were thrilled to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Toy Story Mania back to back to back. We even shared some FastPass love and gave away a set to a family in front of us in line.
Our whole family loved the experience of working with the food bank and we have made many subsequent visits, which was, I am sure, the idea that Disney had in mind! In fact my youngest daughter has asked for her friends to bring food instead of presents to her 4th and 5th birthday parties. As a parent, I could not have been more proud, but what I really noticed is that all of the kids were proud of themselves! I thanked everyone at the party for their donations, and took a moment to explain to the children that they were helping other children. You could literally watch their little chests puff up with pride. Adorable.
So, why am I writing about last year's promotion so long after the fact? Well, the "baby" just turned 5 and collected 100 cans of food and $150 at her birthday party and we just dropped it off. When I got there, I was shocked to find bare cupboards. In fact, they have had to close their doors for the past week because they had nothing to give. When I arrived with a trunk full of groceries and a fair amount of cash, the volunteers almost cried. They are hoping to re-open next week and need every donation they can get. The volunteer explained that they can use cash donations to actually purchase food from regional food banks. In fact she explained that a $20 donation will allow them to purchase over 105 POUNDS of food. A little bit really does go a long way!!!
I am not Disney, my pockets aren't that deep, and I cannot offer you FastPasses or a free park ticket. What I can do is make sure that any donation you would like to make will get into the right hands. Please email me at ginger@tmctravelonline.com if you would like to help. Or just grab and extra jar of peanut butter and a few canned veggies on your next grocery run and drop them off at your local food bank. Times are hard, children are hungry, and you can make a difference.
My family worked with a local food bank and we collected over 700 food items that directly benefited our community. We opted for the FastPass option for our December trip and we were thrilled to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Toy Story Mania back to back to back. We even shared some FastPass love and gave away a set to a family in front of us in line.
Our whole family loved the experience of working with the food bank and we have made many subsequent visits, which was, I am sure, the idea that Disney had in mind! In fact my youngest daughter has asked for her friends to bring food instead of presents to her 4th and 5th birthday parties. As a parent, I could not have been more proud, but what I really noticed is that all of the kids were proud of themselves! I thanked everyone at the party for their donations, and took a moment to explain to the children that they were helping other children. You could literally watch their little chests puff up with pride. Adorable.
So, why am I writing about last year's promotion so long after the fact? Well, the "baby" just turned 5 and collected 100 cans of food and $150 at her birthday party and we just dropped it off. When I got there, I was shocked to find bare cupboards. In fact, they have had to close their doors for the past week because they had nothing to give. When I arrived with a trunk full of groceries and a fair amount of cash, the volunteers almost cried. They are hoping to re-open next week and need every donation they can get. The volunteer explained that they can use cash donations to actually purchase food from regional food banks. In fact she explained that a $20 donation will allow them to purchase over 105 POUNDS of food. A little bit really does go a long way!!!
I am not Disney, my pockets aren't that deep, and I cannot offer you FastPasses or a free park ticket. What I can do is make sure that any donation you would like to make will get into the right hands. Please email me at ginger@tmctravelonline.com if you would like to help. Or just grab and extra jar of peanut butter and a few canned veggies on your next grocery run and drop them off at your local food bank. Times are hard, children are hungry, and you can make a difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment